There's a Storm Inside - CD

ENGLISH

Product Description

Brazil has given us some of the world's best guitarists: from Laurindo Almeida and Baden Powell to Toninho Horta. Now, on his lovely Sunnyside debut There's a Storm Inside, the Sao Paulo-born guitarist/arranger/composer/vocalist Chico Pinheiro presents a contemporary mix of jazz and bossa nova aided by some wonderful contributions from the golden voiced Dianne Reeves and master saxophonist/bass clarinetist Bob Mintzer.

Review

A heaving exhalation of strings. The tactile brush of fingers on nylon strings. A vibratoless voice, confidential and sweet, singing 'Our Love Is Here to Stay.' Within minutes, Chico Pinheiro's fourth album makes its intention unabashedly clear. In a word: seduction.

Of course, because it's love done Brazilian-style, there's plenty of sea and sand, along with a steady undercurrent of saudade, that Portuguese happy-sad feeling that colors and tugs at the heart of all bossa nova. Whether the songs here swing percussively ('Recriando a Criacao), sway gently ('Valsa No 8'), sing praises (a cover of Stevie Wonder's ballad 'As') or percolate like aromatic black coffee ('Boca De Siri' and 'Sertao Wi Fi'), you can sense that a wistful glance or a teardrop is always just around the corner.

Throughout, Pinheiro's charms as a vocalist, guitarist and composer are hard to resist: Imagine a young Chet Baker with Luiz Bonfa's chops and Marcos Valle's aching sense of melody. Add in a feisty rhythm section (drummer Edu Ribeiro, bassist Paulo Paulelli and pianist Fabio Torres), darkly beautiful string arrangements, and guests Dianne Reeves, Luciana Alves and Bob Mintzer, and you get a record that will have you surrendering with a 'Yes, yes, yes.'
- Bill Demain --Jazz Times - Nov. 2010