Ithamara Koorax - Love Dance: The Ballad Album (2003)

Although Ithamara Koorax is a major star in Brazil and has more than a few albums available in that country, Love Dance: The Ballad Album is only her second U.S. release (and her second album for Milestone/Fantasy). The Brazilian singer has no problem handling uptempo material, but she favors a totally romantic setting on the ballad-oriented Love Dance. The interesting thing is that Koorax manages to maintain a torchy mood while being unpredictable; in terms of material, she is impressively far-reaching. Koorax sings in three different languages (Portuguese, English, and Spanish), and her choices range from Brazilian songs (including Ivan Lins' "Love Dance" and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Amparo") to an American standard ("April in Paris") to a well-known Spanish-language bolero (Luis Demetrio's "La Puerta"). It should be noted that Koorax's husband Arnaldo DeSouteiro produced this CD in 2000 and 2002 in five countries: Brazil, the U.S., Germany, England, and Monaco. And by doing so, he gives Koorax a chance to interact with a variety of musicians, who range from the late Brazilian icon Luiz Bonfá (acoustic guitar) on "April in Paris" to German pianist Jürgen Friedrich on Claus Ogerman's "I Loved You" to Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba on "Amparo" and "La Puerta." Meanwhile, British fusion heavyweight John McLaughlin plays electric guitar on Bonfá's "Man Alone," and his encounter with Koorax is historic because he had never backed a vocalist before. Some people will complain about the absence of uptempo performances, but then, Love Dance is exactly what it's meant to be: a torch song/mood music CD. And even though romantic albums of jazz or jazz-influenced pop can easily become predictable -- especially when the artist records overdone Tin Pan Alley standards exclusively -- Koorax and DeSouteiro manage to keep us guessing on this fine addition to her catalog.