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Voice I Love by Sylvia Telles

Voice I Love

Release Date: 1/9/2007

Recording Date: 10/2006

Tracks: 24

Length: 01:04:50 Hrs

Label: El Records

Type: CD

Genre/Styles:
International, Samba, Bossa Nova, Brazilian Traditions

What the Critics Say

It doesn't say so anywhere on the packaging, but this 24-track compilation consists of all of the tracks that appeared on the two mid-'60s LPs by Sylvia Telles that were most known to the English-speaking audience. These were the title-explanatory Sylvia Telles Sings the Wonderful Songs of Antonio Carlos Jobim and The Face I Love; on the latter, just one of the songs was co-written by Jobim, and all but one of the tunes was performed in English. The 12 tracks from The Face I Love comprise the first half of Voice I Love, and are delivered by Telles with an only faintly detectable accent and confident phrasing. While a few of the songs are covers of American popular standards (Richard Rodgers&Oscar Hammerstein II's "It Might As Well Be Spring," George Gershwin&Ira Gershwin's "If Not for Me," and "Baubles, Bangles and Beads"), in the main she stuck to English translations of Brazilian songs, though "Balanco Zona Sul" is sung in the original Portuguese. Marcos Valle co-wrote three of the numbers with Paulo Sérgio, and these -- especially "The Face I Love" and "Surfin' in Rio" -- are highlights, with a somewhat sassier, more uninhibited feel than much of the rest of the album. The last half of the CD consists of the 12 songs from Sylvia Telles Sings the Wonderful Songs of Antonio Carlos Jobim, recorded at a time when Jobim was far more famous in the northern hemisphere than he'd been when Telles first cut his material in the mid-'50s. As with The Face I Love, indications are that perhaps Telles was eyeing the international market as well, since seven of the twelve songs were sung in English (though the remainder were sung in Portuguese). Regardless of what tongue she's using, these numbers were sumptuously produced mid-'60s bossa nova, delivered well whether in her native language or in English. In fact, the sumptuousness borders on the lush at times, though of course bossa nova without the sentiment would be rather like eating spaghetti without the sauce. "How Insensitive" is probably the best-known song of the batch, with "Dreamer" rating as the grandest arrangement, and "Eu Preciso de Voce" (with a skipping beat reminiscent of Hollywood musicals) and "And Roses and Roses" the most frivolous ones. But it was a pretty consistent album of Jobim interpretations the whole way through, and together with the previous 12 tracks from The Face I Love, the CD compiles what's probably the most accessible Telles material for the English-speaking audience. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi

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