Bianca Rossini - Apaixonada
Bianca Rossini - Apaixonada
(Bianca Rossini, 2023)
Brazilian singer Bianca Rossini has spent the last decade redefining Brazilian popular music with her incorporations of jazz, pop and rock elements to her performances. She is a noted composer and lyricist whose previous recordings for Apaixonada Music include, Rio Paradise (2021) Vento Do Norte (2017), Meu Amor (2012) and Kiss of Brazil (2011). On Apaixonada, Rossini delves further into Brazilian Pop music never straying far from the humid climes and high pathos of her native Rio De Janeiro.
Rossini meets a cultural need to provide Brazilian music with more accessible and contemporary material for future consideration. The old guard of Brazilian music, Jobim, Gilberto, and Moraes, tire from constant reinterpretation. Rossini throws the door open with a completely modern approach to the music that is fresh and sexy and fun. The singer assembled a cadre of exceptional musicians from Brazil, Portugal, NY and California each of whom bring their own specific charms to the project. Longtime associate Peter Roberts returns to produce the recording with Rossini ensuring a seamless blend of pop, bossa nova, and samba are combined into a heady alchemic mix. Rossini wrote “Apaixonada” mainly in Ipanema, Rio, each track is a love letter to Brazil's vibrant culture and scenery.
The arrangements and instrumentation are forward-thinking and inspired, reminiscent of the work of Serge Gainsbourg in its international appeal. The title piece features the tart trumpet of Luiz Alves and expressive electric guitar of Roberts. It is a bright song belaying the axiom to “...never start an album with a ballad.” “Pé No Chão” further channels and updates Gainsbourg’s best work. “Terra Natal” adds a certain island lilt, breezy and insistent. Rossini proves to be multidimensional in a profound and entertaining way. This is a welcome addition to her discography.