Listen & tracks

3 of 20 tracks have a preview · 12 works · 62:51

1 Corner of the Earth Jay Kay 5:35
2 Intersection Bob Sedergreen 4:52
3 Água de Beber Antônio Carlos Jobim 5:15
4 Infant Eyes Wayne Shorter 8:45
5 Tangerine Johnny Mercer 3:29
6 Corcovado Antônio Carlos Jobim 5:37
7 Catching the Wave Emma Sidney 4:16
8 Man with the Child in his Eyes Kate Bush 5:41
9 Moonlight in Vermont Karl Suessdorf 5:45
10 Telephone Song Roberto Menescal 2:24
11 I Concentrate on You Cole Porter 6:51
12 Unforgettable Irving Gordon 4:21

Recording began in 2007 and took shape under producer Paul Boath and musical director Todd Sidney, with Move Records bringing the project to completion.

Acoustic Brazil and guests such as Bob Sedergreen colour a twelve-track sequence that moves easily between original writing and fresh readings of well-known songs.

Tom Jobim and his circle turned the ease of the beach into sound: 1960s bossa nova as acoustic Latin rhythm meeting relaxed jazz improvisation. Non-bossa corners include Kate Bush’s Man with the Child in His Eyes and Johnny Mercer’s Tangerine, given a Latin tilt by Todd Sidney’s piano and Denis Close’s Brazilian percussion. Unforgettable receives a bossa treatment; on Água de Beber and Corcovado the vocal line carries unusual weight and presence.

Her Latin take on Moonlight in Vermont renews a familiar standard through close attention to the words.

The album looks back to that coastal mood and sets it in a later century.

Reviews

Don't be fooled by the title. Sidney embraces the Latin American sounds but goes much further. It’s a brave, innovative journey – intriguing to listen to – that leaves the listener wondering where they will be taken. One of the best examples is her take on Wayne Shorter’s Infant Eyes. Its complicated, convoluted melody line would defy most vocalists. Backed by Bob Sedergreen on piano, Sidney holds it together, creating one of the album’s more intriguing passages. Sidney’s interpretation of the lyrics stands out. She understands them and brings them to life. ★★★★

— Leon Gettler, The Age

The popularity of bossa promises to make a comeback, thanks to this lovely and gentle new CD. Emma Sidney mixes famous Jobim standards with much loved melodies like 'Tangerine', and even a slow, haunting Kate Bush song, 'Man With The Child In His Eyes'. Emma’s own delicious 'Catching The Wave' ought to be the theme music for a surf doco, it’s that good.

— Steve Robertson, The Portland Observer

Artists

Emma Sidney

vocals

Emma Sidney is a Melbourne jazz vocalist who has performed classical, opera, musical theatre and jazz since 1988. From 1999 she has worked full time as a bandleader, private teacher and performer in Australia and overseas.

Antônio Carlos Jobim

composer

Antônio Carlos Jobim fused samba with cool jazz to create bossa nova, writing songs whose sophisticated harmonies and beachside lyricism became permanent fixtures of the jazz and pop standard repertoire.

Johnny Mercer

composer

Johnny Mercer's lyrics still define how jazz singers tell a story: conversational, witty and shot through with Southern colour, from torch laments to swing anthems and Hollywood standards that refuse to age.

Cole Porter

composer

Cole Porter wrote both the tunes and the words: urbane, sharp-edged songs built for the stage and still at home in the jazz room. From Night and Day to You're the Top, I Get a Kick Out of You and I Concentrate on You, his catalogue keeps singers circling back.

Bob Sedergreen

composer

Pianist Bob Sedergreen is one of the greatest blues performers this country has produced, and he is blessed with a wonderful style of musical humour.

John Blackburn

composer

Ronaldo Bôscoli

composer

Kate Bush

composer

Vinicius de Moraes

composer

Norman Gimbel

composer

Norman Gimbel (1927–2018) was an American lyricist and songwriter of popular songs and of themes for film and television. He wrote English-language lyrics for many international hits and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984.