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Fleurine

Fleurine, vocalist, composer, lyricist and Brazilian music authority, has gained a devoted international following for her “warm, enveloping sound and gentle rhythmic drive” (Los Angeles Times) and her “cunning brand of vocal wizardry” (JazzTimes). The Dutch born , Portugal reared polyglot who has resided in the US for the past 20 years went on to become the first singer authorized to translate into English the lyrics of the legendary Chico Buarque, for her spellbinding 2008 Sunnyside release San Francisco (produced by Robert Sadin). She was also the sixth lyricist worldwide, following in the footsteps of Abbey Lincoln and Jon Hendricks, to write and record lyrics to music by Thelonious Monk, specifically her adaptation of “Think of One” for her EmArcy/Universal debut album Meant to Be! (featuring Tom Harrell, Christian McBride, Dutch guitar great Jesse van Ruller and more, with liner notes by Hendricks himself).

She has also composed lyrics for songs by Kenny Dorham, Curtis Fuller, Joshua Redman  Tom Harrell, Thad Jones and others.

On her self-produced  Sunnyside release “Brazilian Dream blooms”, Fleurine for the first time performs nearly all her own original music, highlighting her extraordinary working band Boys from Brazil as they draw on a wide range of popular and folkloric genres from bossa nova and samba to baião. Her longtime collaborator, master guitarist Chico Pinheiro, a major presence on San Francisco, returns on two tracks, with additional cameos by Brad Mehldau on piano and Rhodes and Chris Potter on tenor sax and alto flute. In a historic first, guitarist Ian Faquini’s haunting piece “Contradiction – Contradição” features the first lyrics ever written by famed Brazilian composer Guinga, Faquini’s teacher and mentor (with Fleurine’s English translation).

Fleurine is donating nearly all of the proceeds from Brazilian Dream blooms to Estrela da Favela, a small idealistic school located in the challenged Mangueira neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. It is her way of giving back to the country that has inspired her throughout her career.

Following her studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Fleurine immersed herself in the New York scene of the mid-1990s, eventually settling in an apartment just steps away from Bradley’s, the storied jazz club and communal hang, now long defunct. There she struck up friendships with greats including Roy Hargrove, who schooled her on American culture and also enlisted her for a whirlwind tour of Cuba (in preparation for his Crisol project). She attended countless New York jam sessions, audited classes at the New School and City College, and was soon landing engagements at Birdland, the Blue Note and other top venues as well as the North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival and many more.

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Album Review

Fleurine: Brazilian Dream

Read "Brazilian Dream" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


L'amore per la musica brasiliana di Fleurine Verloop era ben chiaro in Meant to Be, il debutto del 1995 della cantante olandese. Una fiamma insita nel suo background (una linea familiare è portoghese e lei parla fluentemente la lingua lusitana) che è sempre rimasta accesa, come dimostrano quasi tutti i suoi album (in particolare San Francisco del 2008) e la lunga collaborazione col chitarrista Chico Pinheiro In questo disco quasi tutti i brani sono di Fleurine, che li ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Brazilian Dream

Sunnyside Records
2018

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San Francisco

SunnySide
2008

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Fire

Coast to Coast
2002

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