A LOVE AFFAIR - THE MUSIC OF IVAN LINS

Well-respected within the American circuit of musicians & audiences who savor elaborate harmonic designs and hooky melodies, Rio de Janeiro native Ivan Lins deserved this tribute album produced by keyboard player Jason Miles, featuring stars like Sting, Chaka Kahn, Vanessa Williams, Dianne Reeves, Freddy Cole and recently deceased saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. Miles, who used to work with his namesake Davis – another fan of Lins’, like maestro Quincy Jones -, didn’t save energy to put this tribute together, as told on the back cover of the original American disc. It all started during a hearing of an Ivan Lins album promoted by Davis in his home at June 21, 1991. Jason immediately connected to the Brazilian sound. With his usual roughness, Davis displayed his admiration: "the son of a bitch is good; I’m gonna make a whole album out of his songs". The trumpeter would die three months later without accomplishing the project that Jason wound up producing and arranging, certainly pursuing a more pop edge, which explains the presence of saxophonist Grover Washington (in Camaleão) and inane Vanessa Williams in one of the composer’s greatest hits in the U.S., Love Dance. Ivan’s Brazilian fans will hardly recognize his trademarks in the album – except for the last track, where he sings a more Latin version of Somos Todos Iguais Essa Noite. The arrangement and ambience on Soberana Rosa (She Walks This Earth) display so much deference to Sting, its interpreter, that it sounds like it was written by him, and not Lins. Which might not be a flaw, in terms of hit parades. Besides the good instrumental support provided by experts like Michael Brecker, Jay Beckenstein, Vinnie Colaiuta and Marcus Miller, the best tracks are performed by Chaka Kahn (Cru Cré Corroró, or So Crazy For This Love), Freddy Cole (Anjo De Mim, or I’m Not Alone) and the electric guitar/cavaquinho duet played respectively by Peter White and Romero Lubambo on the instrumental Leva e Traz, which was dubbed Elis. It’s ok, but Ivan deserves a little better.(Tárik de Souza)