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paula lima - diva paulista William Magalhaes' swinging electric piano can be savoured all over another Mr Bongo release, Sao Paolo soul songstress Paula Lima's Diva Paulista. Paula was voted Brazil's first R&B diva. For those wary of cardboard cookie cutouts, let me tell you that this lady is much more than that. Imagine if the great jazz singer Sarah Vaughan were to be reincarnated in the samba-funk mould and you'd be on the right track. Kicking off in a funky vein on Quero Ver Voce No Baile a composition by Seu Jorge and Gabriel Moura (Seu's excellent Carolina was reviewed in DIASPORA last year), here as in the following three numbers that shimmer with soul, samba, jazz and trip-hop colours Paula twists and turns in relaxed abandon responding to her musical surroundings like a finely tuned instrument. Occasionally she expands into snippets of extroverted testifying that I'm sure will have genuine fans of real American soul music grinning…yet it's all firmly Brazilian. Her voice seems to convey the impression of power to spare, yet she never coasts, twisting the phrases into saudade-filled shapes that mirror her emotions. This Brazilianess is immediately reinforced by the sassy swinging samba E Isso Ai, the title of Paula's debut album from which 9 of the 10 songs here were lifted. After the kaleidoscope of the up-tempo Brazilian jazz As Famosas Gargalhadas Do Yuka comes another slice of classic samba composed by Joao de Aquino and Martinho da Vila (my favourite sambista).Then a lovely soul ballad Perdao Talvez, slightly reminiscent of The Look Of Love with a beautiful trumpet interlude and uptempo conclusion sets the listener up for one of Jorge Benjor's best songs, A Paz Dancando Na Avenida, a mid-tempo burner with a brief rap section. The only number that didn't feature on Lima's debut is the dubby remix of the first track Quero Ver Voce No Baile which brings Diva Paulista to a close. What can I say that a nodding head and swaying hips can't? Both these albums are telling testimony to the timelessness of funk and soul as musical expression and not just marketing tags. Get both.
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