GISELLE My Brazilian Soul CD review by Armando Canales http://gisellefahrbach.iuma.com Gisellesings@sbcglobal.net This CD is a nice surprise. I did not expect to get this high level, quality of music from an independent artist. Yet I get surprised quite often. GISELLE is a highly talented singer who performs with a guitarist or pianist, or a trio ... even with a Big Band. She is a very impressive artist. The album is great! I highly recommend it. Giselle has ongoing appearances at Purple Onion in San Francisco, Caffe Divino in Sausalito, and other places of the music scene in the bay area. web site: gisellefahrbach.iuma.com This singer is a surprise and a delight. Singing In Portuguese, Italian, and English, Giselle displays a great, exotic, yet ever so smooth voice. Maybe the language adds to the flow of words. Musically she pays homage to A.C. Jobim, 8 of the 13 songs here were written or co-written by this giant. Starting with the monster classic "Wave" [A.C.Jobim] Giselle makes it her own. She brings out all the Nuances possible. She mainly sings in Portuguese, as she does on this cut. Next, she moves to "A Felicidade" [Jobim] in English roughly translates as "to happiness." Musically she has support from Marcos Silva who has been playing with FLORA PURIM for 9 years. Here her supporting musicians do well, especially with the excellent piano. The result is a lush and lovely song. "Agua De Beber" another Jobim tune is a peppy upbeat number. One of my favorites though is "Samba De Uma Nota So" (One Note Samba) which is a classic done my many. Like "Wave" it is a song that is instantly recognized. Giselle does a fine job with this, her voice sounding great. The supporting music is near perfect, the production and arranging is great. Next we come to "Corcovado" [Jobim] and this song continues to show excellence, sophistication, and musical smarts. This is another of my personal favorites, the sense of the song just right. The Jobim tunes keep coming, next she gives us "So Danco Samba" and I can't help but be impressed. The playing is tight,clean, and inspired. She and the band amaze. We finally come to a non-Jobim song, "Estate" [B. Martino-B. Brighetti], a tune she sings in Italian. She does well and so she should as she speaks 5 languages. Giselle was born and raised in Germany but now shespends time in California. The eighth selection is "Girl From Ipanema" [Jobim-Cimbel] and this is another monster tune. She certainly does it justice, actually it seems these songs were made for Giselle. Her voice is truly lovely. Some of her fans have stated that her music makes them feel good and I couldn't agree more. It is just nice stuff, great sounds. "Casa Forte" is a lush number. Here the music has a different sense, yet it is really great. She sings, more like scats or rap. I loved the way the song carried and the piano was superior. The piano it must be said is fine throughout the CD. The next number is "Ate Quem Sabe" and on this one she sounds very classy, the music nuanced and emotive. A slower number. A fine effort. Giselle gets into a happy upbeat mood in "O Pato" [I think it may mean The Duck!] and we get a fun music and a light sense. I liked this neat track. The 12th cut on this CD is "Canto Triste" (Sad Song). Her delivery is emotional and sensitive. The music is a more controlled--slower in a way. A nice song but not as good as many earlier ones. There are some unique sounds on this cut, I don't know what instrument made these nice sounds. The album closes with "Garota De Ipanema" which she does in Portuguese. A fine work.