Record of the day: Ivan Lins, "Anjo de mim"

Record of the day: Ivan Lins, “Anjo de mim”

Ivan Lins
Anjo de mim (Cd Velas 11-VO 76)

Ivan Lins is, together with Djavan, one of the best authors and singers of Brazilian music to arrive on the scene after the generation
tropicalista by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil and quickly achieved enormous success all over the world as the author of songs sung by giants such as George Benson, Sarah Vaughan, Bette Midler, Elis Regina, Quincy Jones, Carmen McRae, Sting, Ella Fitzgerald and Barbra Streisand (just to name a few).

The remarkable harmonic richness and beauty of Lins' melodic phrases have also aroused attraction among many exponents of the jazz and fusion world such as Terence Blanchard, Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin who find it stimulating to improvise on top of these often unpredictable and always tasteful chord structures.

Lins' career has produced many records made in the 70s and 80s together with his band A Familia which have only recently been released outside Brazil and are very much influenced by the typical sound of those years, influenced by the fusion that came from Los Angeles; sometimes the results are a bit dated, but songs like “Galerìa Metropole”, “Luas de Pequim”, “Aparecida”, “Vieste”, “Sede Dos Marujos”, “Vitoriòsa”, “Fogueiras”, “Amar Assim” , all created together with lyricist Vitor Martins, are stunning and remain among the best examples of Brazilian popular song ever. Ivan's voice is also rich, passionate, always generous and equipped with a remarkable extension that supports a constant expressive charge.

Unfortunately, when Lins tackled the record market in America he made a record, “Love Dance”, where the songs (some truly magnificent) were disfigured by Larry Williams' pop arrangements and an ultra-commercial production that aimed at the charts, preventing us from appreciating his remarkable talent. musical; the following “Awa-Yo” is decidedly better, with Lins leading a group where Vinnie Colaiuta's drums stand out.

Once the American experience ended, Lins' records once again became difficult to find on the Italian market and were never officially published by us, which is absurd given the quality of works like this “Anjo de mim” from 1995 which contains pages splendid like the title track, “Saudades de casa”, “Lembra de mim”, “Noturna” as well as an excellent version of “Desde que o samba è samba” by Caetano Veloso.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.