VARIOUS ARTISTS / “Dindi Mixtape”
This is a popular love song by Antonio "Tom" Carlos Jobim, the master of Bossa Nova. The original Portuguese lyrics are by Aloysio de Oliveira. English lyrics were added by Ray Gilbert. In addition to its status as a Bossa Nova classic, “Dindi” is also a standard in the repertoire of modern jazz musicians.
Although most singers cover the song as a ballad, there is nonetheless a remarkably wide and diverse range of interpretations. I don’t have a favorite—back in the early seventies I would have chosen the Norman Connors/Jean Carn collaboration but not so now. Moreover, some of the lesser known artists have come up with beautiful arrangements.
As for subtlety and sensitivity in vocal interpretation it is hard to beat Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae, each of whom stamp their distinctive vocal personalities onto the well known melody and lyrics. While I openly admire Sassy and Carmen, I was surprised by how comfortable Natalie Cole sounded and also surprised that El Debarge (with Art Porter on saxophone) would sing “Dindi” and manage to maintain his instantly recognizable stylistic idiosyncrasies and at the same time manage to avoid slaughtering the shape of the song.
Emilio Santiago with his brilliant baritone is a personal favorite but Jon Lucien gives Emilio a strong, strong run for the money. Some of the instrumental turns are simply lovely and relaxing albeit swinging. And I guess my favorite of the lesser known artists is Lyambiko. She is of mixed German and Tanzania heritage, and although she has an obvious accent she is spot on in terms of her musicianship, the way she crafts her phrases and rhythms.
When I was assembling the Mixtape the biggest difficulty was leaving out at least five or six selections that were both strong and distinctive but which I felt were stylistically repetitious. At just under two hours, the trick was to make sure that each cut not only could stand on its own but also offered its own color on the palette so that musically, even though we were dealing with the same song, each of the twenty versions added a distinctive color to the aural painting.
—Kalamu ya Salaam
Dindi Mixtape Playlist
01 Antonio Carlos Jobim em Minas ao vivo - Tom Jobim 
02 Stéphanie Laliberté 
03 Lachrimae - André Mehmari 
04 Shades Of Delight - Lyambiko 
05 With All My Heart - Harvey Mason 
06 The Best Of Norman Connors - featuring Jean Carn 
07 (Funky Portuguese Version) Dark Honey - Jamie Lynn Fletcher 
08 When I Need To Smile - Eugene Maslov 
09 Ultimate Collection - El Debarge 
10 Live in Tokyo - Carmen McRae 
11 Corazon Latino Especial - Landes Jugend Jazz Orchester 
12 Stardust - Natalie Cole 
13 Butterfly Dreams - Flora Purim 
14 Someone To Light Up My Life - Gene Bertoncini 
15 Copacabana Exclusivamente Brasil - Sarah Vaughan 
16 De Um Jeito Diferente - Emílio Santiago 
17 Candeias - Com Voce 
18 Positootly! - John Beasley 
19 Remember Love - Mary Stallings 
20 By Request - Jon Lucien
This entry was posted on Monday, October 25th, 2010 at 4:45 pm and is filed under Cover. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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