FULL REVIEW:
"Born and raised in Italy where she first sang professionally, Mari Nobre worked in Europe before settling in the USA where she met and married bassist Leo Nobre who at the time was with Sergio Mendes. Although now resident in Los Angeles, where she leads Nobresil, a Brazilian band, Mari tours internationally. Linguistically skilled, she sings in her native language and English as well as Spanish, Portuguese and French. This album was recorded just three weeks after Mari had undergone surgery following treatment for cancer and the music heard is vibrant and often joyous, perhaps reflecting her feelings at this moment in time. The album’s full title is Live and Alive from Gershwin to Jobim … a Musical Journey, and it contains several well-known songs, among them Fascinating Rhythm, by George and Ira Gershwin, Corcovado, Retrato Em Branco E Prato and Chega de Saudade (No More Blues), all composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim, the last-named two with lyricists Chico Buarque and Vinicius de Moraes respectively. Also heard are a standard by Victor Young and Edward Heyman, When I Fall In Love, a song by Albert Domínguez, Frenesi, well known to all who remember Artie Shaw’s swing era hit, Leonard Cohen’s Dance Me To The End of Love, Benny Golson’s Whisper Not and an original written by Mari with Patrick Lockwood, Linda. On this live date at UCLA’s Jan Popper Theatre, Mari’s attractive, fluent vocal sound is supported by saxophonist/flautist Justo Almario, pianist Daniel Szabo, guitarist Angelo Metz, bassist Leo Nobre, and drummer Sandro Feliciano. Good songs attractively sung, this should have wide appeal. Worth noting is Mar’s comment: “Since music healed me I want to return the favor and donate part of the sales from the album to the children cancer research.”
