While she's a fresh and exotic voice on the recording scene, the multi-talented, Italian-born, internationally minded singer and musician has been keeping great company. With a vocal range and style that quickly bring Dianne Reeves to mind, she's recorded with Tony Bennett and James Taylor; so impressed Burt Bacharach that he collaborated here on the lush, emotional ballad "Trouble"; snagged legendary rock producer Russ Titelman to helm the recording; and is roundly adored by no less than '80s pop queen Cyndi Lauper, who crowed, "This record is haunting and she's just fantastic...her voice just captivates you." What Cyndi says. Civello's not quite as crisp vocally as Lizz Wright, but her jazz-soul heart is in the same place while traversing many borders -- singing in English, Italian, and Portuguese. While gently swinging numbers like the Brazilian-flavored, hypnotic "Ora" are more compelling, slower and smokier tunes like "Parole Incerte" offer her deepest modes of expression. Her skills as a songwriter are firmly on display, but she chooses a few interesting, somewhat obscure covers in samba-flavored cuts like Suzanne Vega's graceful "Caramel" and Rosa Passos/Fernando DeOliveira's "Outono." That sort of globe-trotting will set her apart from the pack of great female singers currently dotting the jazz landscape.
© Jonathan Widran /TiVo