Ithamara Koorax

Ithamara Koorax is all over the map. (Pronounce it ôee-ta-mß-ah k=r-ax.ö)

ôEla T carioca (SheÆs from Rio),ö as Antonio Carlos Jobim has sung. Ithamara is indeed a native of Rio de Janeiro, and other cariocas in the know have hailed her as one of the hottest Brazilian talents to emerge in the Nineties. Jobim himself referred to her as ôsimply one of the best singers on the scene.ö

In Japan her six successful CD releases have earned her highest accolades in that countryÆs most prestigious jazz publications.

While in Europe Ithamara sambas to a different synth and drummer: her acid-jazz collaborations with percussionist Dom Um Rompo have supercharged dance floors there since the mid-Nineties.

So, with all this hipping and hopping, where will this 35-year-old singer land next?

Well, a bio from Milestone ought to give a clue, at least to geography; but her latest stylistic perch just might surprise you.

Serenade in Blue, her first release in the United States, has finally arrived. But instead of the usual Brazilian standards we might have expected, Ithamara has chosen to record an impressive repertoire she herself refers to as ômy favorite songs.ö ItÆs a silky smooth tribute to the midcentury crooner: a couple of lilting bossas, yes, but dominated by some of the best music ever to spill from the silver screen--all perfect vehicles to show off the amazing four-octave range she started cultivating at the age of five.

ôMy Jewish family fled Poland during the second World War,ö she explains. ôI started to study singing and classical piano when I was very young. My concentration, of course, was on lyric singing, classical music, you know, mostly European music.ö

ôBut when I was around 18 or 19, I started earning money by singing ad jingles and doing backup vocals for many Brazilian pop stars. I realized then I wanted to do something else. I had become familiar with singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Elis Regina. But the most important influences on my singing were Elizeth Cardoso [the uncredited singer in the original Black Orpheus soundtrack], Carmen McRae, Shirley Horn, and Flora Purim.ö

IthamaraÆs reputation as a controlled and expressive vocalist spread quickly among BrazilÆs musical movers and shakers and her voice became a very hot commodity in studios all over Rio. IthamaraÆs first solo recording ôIluminadaö launched her into the limelight when the song was included as the theme for one of BrazilÆs ôcanÆt missö novelas (soap operas). The soundtrack went platinum and her career never looked back.

She soon began performing with the likes of Hermeto Pascoal, Edu Lobo, Azymuth, and Martinho da Vila, and returned several times to the hit parades with more novela theme songs. (In Brazil, everything stops for the evening soaps whose soundtracks become instant hits because of the hammering TV exposure. Inclusion in a novela is a very prestigious gig.)

Her debut solo album, Luiza (Ithamara Koorax Live), won the Brazilian version of the Grammy: the 1994 Sharp Award for Best New Artist. That same year she took part in an all-star session along side Eddie Gomez, Jack DeJohnette, and Gil Goldstein, produced in New York by Creed Taylor, but never released in this country.

Describing this emerging new voice, one of BrazilÆs top popular music critics, Tarik de Souza, wrote: ôPossessing a rare vocal range, Ithamara. . . exercises her well-crafted instrument in stylistic schools that run from Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis to Elis Regina, Yma Sumac, and Elizeth Cardoso. But she does so in her own way, alternating delicate intimacy with heated passion...a dazzling, heady lesson in vocal techniques.ö

Then her fame spread halfway around the world. ôIn 1991 the novelas had given me so much exposure, even tourists were crowding my gigs. A Japanese impresario heard me one night and invited me to do a tour of Japan. I didnÆt even have a record there yet. Later I did three more tours and now I am considered one of the four top jazz singers by Japanese critics!ö

The CDs she eventually released in Japan, including Luiza (1994), Rio Vermelho (1995, which, by the way, included maestro JobimÆs last recorded performance), Almost in Love/Ithamara Koorax Sings the Luiz Bonfß Songbook (1996, featuring Bonfß, Ron Carter, Larry Coryell, Sadao Watanabe, and Eumir Deodato), have all been prominently recognized on Japanese best-seller and best-of lists.

In testimony to IthamaraÆs talent, composer and guitar master Bonfß remarked, ôItÆs an honor and a privilege to work with such a great artist as Ithamara, one of the best singers in the world.ö

On another front, her acid-jazz version of the Jopo Donato/Caetano Veloso tune, ôThe Frog,ö became a dancefloor hit in Europe in 1994, anticipating later collaborations with Dom Um Rompo (formerly with Sergio Mendes, Frank Sinatra, and Weather Report, among others), including an appearance on Senhor RompoÆs much acclaimed Rhythm Traveller CD in 1998.

Later that same year, in an able display of her versatility, she recorded the first Brazilian album in the drum ænÆ bass genre, Bossa Nova Meets Drum ænÆBass, and participated in a recording of works by Brazilian classical composer Hekel Tavares.

The current Serenade in Blue grew out of her desire to be known, not as a Brazilian singer of Brazilian music, but ôto be known as a singer--period.ö

ôThis is a very personal record, a very personal collection of songs I like, songs I like to sing at home. They are classic and timeless favorites.ö

ôBecause I respect these songs so much, during the sessions we decided to keep the mood as true to the original as possible, but I also felt a great challenge to put my own stamp on songs that have been recorded so many times before. With the help of some great musicians, I think we did it.ö

The high-octane roster of artists who fueled her enthusiasm includes Eumir Deodato, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Marcos Valle, Jay Berliner, Dom Um Rompo, Laudir de Oliveira, and BrazilÆs premier jazz group, Azymuth; the album is produced by Arnaldo DeSouteiro, the top Brazilian jazz producer whoÆs worked with Jopo Gilberto, Claudio Roditi, Luiz Bonfß, Deodato, and many others.

ôI picked a group of musicians who I knew and admired, a group of friends I could be comfortable with and communicate with. ItÆs the only way to make real music.ö

Surrounded by such a sea of talent, Ithamara effortlessly and tastefully sails through a track list that includes, among others, two Oscar-winning tunes. She sings in perfect English. Perfect French. And, of course, perfect Portuguese.

The wise will keep Ithamara Koorax on their radar, in great expectation of her next fruitful voyage of discovery, very grateful that sheÆs all over the map.

A native of Rio de Janeiro, Ithamara Koorax became a major name in Brazilian pop-jazz in the 1990s. The singer comes from a family of Polish Jews, who fled Europe during World War II. Born in Rio in 1965, Koorax was only a child when she began studying classical music. But when she reached adulthood, Koorax realized that Brazilian pop-jazz would be her focus -- the vocalists she admired ranged from Flora Purim and Elis Regina to Shirley Horn, Ella Fitzgerald, and Carmen McRae. At 18, Koorax found that singing background vocals for various artists and providing jingles for Brazilian ad agencies could be very lucrative -- and she enjoyed a great deal of exposure when her recording, "Iluminada," was used in a popular Brazilian soap opera in the early 1990s. Koorax's first album, Luiza: Ithamara Koorax Live was released in Japan on JVC in 1994, and several releases on the Japanese Paddle Wheel label followed, including Rio Vermelho in 1995, Ithamara Koorax Sings the Luiz Bonfá Songbook in 1996, Wave 2000 in 1997, and Bossa Nova Meets Drum'n'Bass in 1998. Koorax's first U.S. release came in 2000, when Fantasy licensed Serenade in Blue (recorded in 1997 and 1998) from the Jazz Station label. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide