Album: Lazy Afternoon / Artist: Elin / 11 tracks: 58:33 / On The Streets Now / Blue Toucan Music
If you are looking for a great way to spend a lazy afternoon, you might want to cuddle up with Elin, or at least the beautiful vocals that emanate from the equally pretty Swedish jazz vocalist, now living in the United States. 
Her eleven tracks CD, Lazy Afternoon released under the Blue Toucan Music banner features a mural of beautiful sonnets sung in Portuguese, Spanish and English.
The album opens with the George Gershwin tune “Fascinating Rhythms,” a song in which percussionist Pedro Ito and drummer Ricky Sebastian set a torrid tempo, which Elin matches note for note. Although I do not understand Portuguese, the beauty of the language combined with Elin’s outstanding vocals, contributes to an awesome experience. Luiz Simas teams up with Elin (on her own overdub) for some fun background vocals. When the singer switches from English to Portuguese halfway through the track, it further enhanced my listening enjoyment. Anat Cohen sparkles with a clarinet solo.
The title track, “Lazy Afternoon,” has a dreamy melody, sung in English by Elin. In her liner notes the singer gives credit to producer Tony Spaneo for suggesting the Jerome Monross / John Latouche tune. Elin and her musicians create a languid, peaceful ambience, as the songbird’s emotive vocals transport the listener to a place where time seems to stand still. Claudio Roditi enhances the mood with some warm fat notes from his flugelhorn.
Although the CD Lazy Afternoon first came out in 2006, it somehow flew under my radar, and that is too bad, because Elin is a tremendously gifted artist, who can sing up- tempo, languidly or perform standards, performing comfortably in English or Portuguese. Elin’s original composition “I Love New York,” co-written with Sean Harkness, on a more subdued level evokes the same strong emotions as the John Kandler / Fred Ebb song, “New York, New York,” the theme song from the 1977 Martin Scorsese film of the same name (first sung by Liza Minnelli and recorded in 1979 by Frank Sinatra).
Luiz Simas and Elin wrote beautiful arrangements for this album. The song selection and order are fabulous, as the CD transitions easily between livelier rhythms and more peaceful ambient music. Elin, Spaneo, Minas and associate producer Michael Brorby put together some beautifully orchestrated charts that called for cellist Frank Friedlander, a French horn (Tom Varner), trombonist Alan Ferber, vibraphonist Hendrik Meurkens, a clarinet (Anat Cohen), a tenor saxophone (Harry Allen), flutes (Onel Mulet and Keith Underwood), a trio of percussionists, three drummers, three bass players, two guitars and a piano. The producers have incorporated solos that flow naturally within the songs, evidenced by Roditi’s flugelhorn solo in “Vera Cruz.” The vocalist and musicians do a good job of complimenting one another rather than creating an air of competition.
Trumpet and guitar introduce us to Juan Carlos Jobim’s “Bonita,” sung in English by Elin. It is only fitting that a Jobim song found its way onto Lazy Afternoon as Elin was inspired to explore Brazilian music, when she was a child, after hearing the music of Jobim and fellow Brazilian Joa Gilberto. On another track from Lazy Afternoon, Elin pays tribute to Gilberto by singing “Doralice,” a tune that she says was one of the first Brazilian songs she ever heard. She also admits to being inspired by Brazilian singers Ellis Regina and Leny Andrade. If you are looking for music that will create a romantic mood for a candlelit dinner with that someone special, you cannot go wrong with “Bonita,” and many of the other fabulous songs found on Lazy Afternoon.
You just finish gushing over one song and another pretty tune begins to spin, such as the lush Elin original composition, “La Luna,” which she sings in Spanish. Cohen’s clarinet, Simas’ piano chops and Ilaiguara Brandao’s pizzicato, paint a pretty pastel mural. Like most songs on this album the colors are soft, no rough edges, no harsh tones.
As Lazy Afternoon winds down the listener is treated to two more excellent songs, a fun Elin original titled “Sugar,” and Edu Lobo’s “Casa Forte.”
Click here for printer friendly article
Reviewed October 2007
