Monday Recommendation: Luciana Souza, The Book Of Longing (Sunnyside)
Returning to recording, Luciana Souza is inspired by poetry. The Book Of Longing finds her drawing inspiration from poets of two centuries and singing three new songs of her own. Bassist Scott Colley and Brazilian guitarist Chico Pinheiro accompany her, enhancing the album’s moods, using counterpoint as commentary. Both solo with distinction. Colley is notably effective in Ms. Souza’s “These Things,†which has a nifty reference to Robert Frost. Pinheiro finds a rhythmic groove in Dickinson’s “We Grow Accustomed To The Dark†(1864). Ms. Souza’s sources range from the 18th century to the 21st and include not only her work, but also Edna St. Vincent Millay, Emily Dickinson and the late singer-poet-novelist Leonard Cohen. Christina Rosetti’s “Remember†(1861) ends the album. It is a lyrical instruction for thinking —or not thinking—about her after she dies.
Ms. Souza’s musicianship and sensitivity are as remarkable as ever.