Home » Jazz Articles » Interview » Ithamara Koorax: Celestial Elegance
Ithamara Koorax: Celestial Elegance
Jorge Pescara
bass
Antonio Carlos Jobim
piano1927 - 1994
Jose Roberto Bertrami
keyboards
Azymuth
band / ensemble / orchestra
Herbie Hancock
pianob.1940
Cole Porter
composer / conductor1891 - 1964
Koorax's career highlights are numerous and diverse. She's recorded or performed with Antonio Carlos Jobim,
Luiz Bonfa
guitar, acoustic1922 - 2001
Thiago de Mello
percussion1933 - 2013
Eumir Deodato
keyboardsb.1942
Dave Brubeck
piano1920 - 2012
Ron Carter
bassb.1937
Larry Coryell
guitar1943 - 2017
Claus Ogerman
composer / conductor1930 - 2016
John McLaughlin
guitarb.1942
Koorax and Azymuth soaked in the liquid warmth of Ivan Lins' title track for her Love Dance: The Ballad Album (Milestone, 2003) follow-up. On Autumn in New York (Jazz Station Records, 2005), she dedicated her stunning performance of "I Fall in Love Too Easily" to one of its most famous interpreters,
Miles Davis
trumpet1926 - 1991
Chet Baker
trumpet and vocals1929 - 1988
Don Sebesky
arranger1937 - 2023
Joao Gilberto
vocals1931 - 2019
But like the enigmatic, exotic landscapes of her native Brazil, to many music fans Ithamara Koorax remains undiscovered beauty. Arranged and produced by Arnaldo DeSouteiro, Got to Be Real begins with several languid and lush interpretations of pop classics from the 1960s and '70s before moving into Brazilian and jazz colors. "Ithamara has been singing these songs for many, many years, and this trio has been touring with her since 2005, not only in Brazil, but also in Europe and Asia," explains DeSouteiro. "We've been doing little modifications all the time, experimenting with different tempos and details until we felt they were finished and ready to record." (Sadly, Mr. Bertrami passed away in July 2012.)
Most Koorax albums contain a moment when her throat opens and unleashes an impossible but perfectly rendered note. On Got to Be Real, it's her impossibly high and long sustained note that closes the first chorus of its title track, expertly rearranged into a simmering and luxurious
Sade
vocalsb.1959
"Toque de Cuica" lights up a Real Brazilian jazz manifesto, thundering with echoes of the groundbreaking vocal/percussion work by Brazil's
Flora Purim
vocalsb.1942
Airto Moreira
percussionb.1941
What would Koorax say to jazz fans who think there's too much pop on Got to Be Real? "I didn't count if I was singing two or three or five 'pop' songs. I always choose songs that I like to sing and that I feel I can add something personal to," Koorax explains. "I don't care if they are jazz tunes, Great American Songbook standards, bossa anthems, pop hits, R & B songs, I really don't care. Brazilian Butterfly was an album of traditional Brazilian folk songs and got rave reviews in the jazz community as well as in the electronica and dance-music areas."
Jazz historian Ira Gitler once wrote about Ithamara Koorax: "Her range and technique are remarkable, but you don't necessarily take time out to marvel at her technique until later on because you are too absorbed in her musical message. Her powerful singing speaks for itself with celestial elegance."
All About Jazz: You've done a lot of different types of albums, but even so, Got to Be Real is still a departure and a very different album for you. Does Got to Be Real sound different from your previous albums to you?Ithamara Koorax: Each and every album in my 15-CD discography sounds different to me. I never tried or wanted to repeat myself. I always tried to, at first, please me and then please the listener. One of the best things written about me came from Fred Bouchard, when reviewing Brazilian Butterfly for DownBeat: "Koorax is delightfully unpredictable in her music." That was a big compliment for me.
And now that the business of recorded music has been ruined—I mean, now you don't have to feel the pressure from record companies because they are gone, they are past, and now 99 percent of the jazz artists produce and manufacture their own products without any interference—I feel more free than ever.
My first US album, Serenade in Blue, released in 2000 by Milestone, a very prestigious label with whom I was proud to be associated till 2003, was subtitled My Favorite Songs when released in Asia, Europe and Brazil. But, actually, all my albums should be subtitled My Favorite Songs because the songs I choose are always my favorite ones, at least during the period I was recording the album, or they belong to my big list of favorite songs, since I have a repertoire of 200-plus songs that I love to sing in my live performances. The songs from Got To Be Real, for example, have been in my heart for many, many years. I have been singing some of them since the beginning of my professional career in Brazil 22 years ago.
Others go even back to my childhood, because I used to dance to songs like "Never Can Say Goodbye," "Got To Be Real" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" when I was in my teens, in parties at my school. It was a long and very pleasant process to find my personal way to sing them but at the same time let them keep their identity. I haven't destroyed the songs, they remain songs of love and happiness, but you don't need to shout about love and happiness. You can whisper words of love. They become more sensual to me. The song's impact is not diminished—it's even stronger. You don't need to scream, "I love you." There are other ways to say "I love you." Oh, that could be a good subtitle to this new CD—Other Ways To Say I Love You!
Some of my previous CDs were recorded during long periods of time, especially Red River (King, 1995), Serenade in Blue, Love Dance and Brazilian Butterfly. It took me two to three years to complete each of them because I had to deal with the schedules of people like Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Bonfa, John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell, Claus Ogerman,
Jay Berliner
guitar, acoustic
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
pianob.1963
Raul De Souza
tromboneb.1934
This new CD is also my first one with my road trio, the group that toured all over the world with me from 2005 to 2011. These wonderful guys were supposed to make the Got To Be Real tour, of course, but my keyboardist for the past 22 years, Jose Roberto Bertrami, passed away last July 8. I'm still devastated by this terrible loss, and I'm auditioning some new guys to replace him. But it will be very difficult because he was a true genius—Brazil's best keyboardist ever, the founder of Azymuth, Brazil's top jazz group ever. He also recorded with
Sarah Vaughan
vocals1924 - 1990
Mark Murphy
vocals1932 - 2015
Dom Um Romao
drums1925 - 2005
AAJ: Why do this album, and why do it right now? IK: I wanted to document the music that I was doing with my road band for the past seven years. Albums like Bim Bom, which was released in 2009 as the first Joao Gilberto Songbook ever recorded, and the two sessions recorded in Europe with the Peter Scharli Trio—Obrigado Dom Um Romao, a 2008 tribute to the legendary drummer/percussionist who recorded with
Frank Sinatra
vocals1915 - 1998
Tony Bennett
vocals1926 - 2023
Weather Report
band / ensemble / orchestraGot To Be Real documents a very happy and creative time in my career. Love Dance is beautiful, and I love it, but it was like a torch-song project. Autumn in New York was my standards album, my journey into the Great American Songbook. Got To Be Real mixes everything—jazz standards, pop songs, disco hits, bossa tunes—but all these elements are unified by the sonority we achieved and by the great job that Arnaldo DeSouteiro did arranging and producing the album. Actually, he arranged the songs for my live concerts and made just a few adjustments for these recording sessions. His idea of slowing down the tempo on the disco hits was awesome! He did an especially terrific job on the title track because he transferred the bass line [from the original Cheryl Lynn recording] to the keyboards and transferred the horn riffs to the bass!
Similar things happened on "Never Can Say Goodbye," and one day, during a concert at a jazz festival in Seoul, I added the quote of Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" in the very ending, after the band had already stopped. I was so moved, felt so much joy, that this melody just came from my soul to my throat. The audience loved it, and since then I have incorporated that Bach quote to the song. Curiously, "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" was also one of
Elis Regina
vocalsb.1945
AAJ: You had previously recorded "Ho Ba La La." Why did you re-record it for this new album?
IK: This is my favorite Joao Gilberto composition. I sang it in my first professional gig as a leader at the Rio Jazz Club, in January 1990. Bertarmi also loved that tune and had recorded it in one of his albums with Azymuth—Crazy Rhythm, released by Milestone in 1988. I kept singing it on my tours, and then I finally recorded it, in a vocal/guitar duo with Juarez Moreira, for the Joao Gilberto Songbook. But Arnaldo came up with a new arrangement for the trio that features our drummer, Haroldo Jobim, and we simply loved it. If I was under the pressure from a big record label or big management company, they certainly would not allow me to re-record the same song three years later. But since I have complete artistic freedom, complete control of my career, I can do whatever I want. If I like something, and my audience likes it, that's what matters for me.
AAJ: Your voice has a great relationship with the energetic rhythms of "Toque de Cuica" and "My Favorite Things." Would you share your thoughts about these two tracks?
IK: Great and visionary question, because these two songs are loved by crowds all over the world. Back in 2007, when we were playing as the opening act for the
Joe Lovano
drumsb.1952
Dave Douglas
trumpetb.1963
John Coltrane
saxophone1926 - 1967
"Toque de Cuica" was co-written in 1976 by Bertrami and bassist Alex Malheiros for Azymuth's 1977 album Aguia Nao Come Mosca. The original title was "Tamborim, Cuica, Ganza, Berimbau," which are the names of four Afro-Brazilian percussion instruments. Three years later, Airto recorded it in a much faster tempo for the Touching You, Touching Me album (Warner Bros., 1979) and used a new title, "Toque de Cuica." During the acid-jazz heyday in Europe and Japan back in the 90s, Airto's version became a huge dance-floor hit. I always loved that song and suggested it to Bertrami, especially because he had told me that his Azymuth colleagues were tired of "Toque de Cuica" because they had played it too many times in their early years. So once again Arnaldo DeSouteiro manifested his genius as an arranger and beautifully recreated the song.
AAJ: You've performed all over the world. In what locations do you particularly enjoy performing? IK: Each place, each city, each venue, each country has its own charm and enchantment. And each audience reacts in a very different way. The Japanese are very quiet and take notice of all details. You can listen to the sound of silence in their concert halls (of course, open-air concerts lead to another mood). South Koreans are more enthusiastic. They scream when they recognize an intro. Jazz is a kind of pop music there, not a separate segment of the market—
Chick Corea
piano1941 - 2021
Pat Metheny
guitarb.1954
Bob James
pianob.1939
Sergio Mendes
piano1941 - 2024
There have been also some great concerts in Paris at the Carreau du Temple. The jazz clubs in Germany are great, too. There was a very moving concert in the USA: In 2008, I sang with Gaudencio Thiago de Mello's Amazon Big Band in a concert at CUNY University in New York, promoted by the United Nations to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I was backed by musicians from all over the world. It was difficult to me to sing that concert because I was crying all the time.
AAJ: Was there music in your home as you grew up? Were either of your parents, or another close family member, musicians?
IK: My parents were Polish Jews who came to Brazil as fugitives from World War II. My father liked jazz. My mother was an operatic singer. We listened to a lot of music: jazz, classical, Brazilian folk music, pop music and singers like Sinatra, Bennett and my favorite,
Barbra Streisand
vocalsb.1942
My family affairs were always very problematic. To escape from problems in my house, I married at a very early age, and one month later I found out he was an alcoholic, a very sensitive guy that loved music but who, after a single beer, could become very violent. It came to the point I had to run away from my own home, left him living there and rented my own small apartment in Rio. Finally I got a divorce in late 1989, and everything changed for better. In January 1990, I started my professional career, and my first engagement was an event—from writer Paulo Coelho to Formula One champion Airton Senna, everybody attended my concerts.
AAJ: There's a nice mix of pop, jazz and Brazilian music on Got to Be Real, which leads one to wonder how you tailor your approach based on the material you're singing. How do you approach all this different type of music—the same, or differently?
IK: There's just one rule: I sing it my way. And they need to be great tunes, no matter if they are labeled jazz, pop, fusion, samba, spaghetti or lasagna. But after the story of each song touches me, after they choose me, after they touch my heart and soul, I'm allowed to interpret them in my way.
AAJ: What are some of your own favorite songs to sing, and why?
IK: Songs that I feel I can add something very personal to. Some years ago, a Japanese producer tried to convince me to record an album of songs that Flora Purim recorded during her 
Return to Forever
band / ensemble / orchestraThere are also songs that I love to sing in concerts with symphony orchestras but have never recorded—especially Dave Brubeck's "Strange Meadowlark," " data-original-title="" title="">Michele Colombier's "Emmanuel" and gems by
Michel Legrand
piano1932 - 2019
Ross Schneider
saxophone
Chris Conway
bassb.1962
AAJ: If we could put aside the considerable repertoire from Brazil, in what other ways has your Brazilian heritage shaped the way you sing? IK: The main influence was on the rhythmic thing and how that rhythmic impulse affected my phrasing, my vocal attack. When I started to work with drummer Dom Um Romao in 1997, I improved a lot as a singer because I began to listen even more to all the rhythmic nuances and subtle beat changes. Curiously, last week I watched a Ron Carter interview on Brazilian TV, and when asked which bassists influenced him most, he answered, "No bassist, just
J.J. Johnson
trombone1924 - 2001
Urszula Dudziak
vocalsb.1943
Betty Carter
vocals1929 - 1998
Shirley Horn
piano1934 - 2005
Lew Soloff
trumpet1944 - 2015
Blood, Sweat, Drum + Bass
band / ensemble / orchestra
Randy Brecker
trumpetb.1945
Freddie Hubbard
trumpet1938 - 2008
Billy Cobham
drumsb.1944
Steve Gadd
drumsb.1945
AAJ: We'd like to visit some of the best moments from some of your previous work. What do you like to remember about your Joao Gilberto Songbook with Juarez Moreira?
IK: A historic moment in my career. I'm forever grateful to Juarez, Joao Gilberto, Claus Ogerman and Arnaldo DeSouteiro for that project.
AAJ: You did two very different albums with Peter Scharli. What do you like to remember about the title track to O Grande Amor?
IK: A beautiful Jobim tune, which I learned by listening to the famous Getz/Gilberto album (Verve, 1963). It was a first take, but I could have done a better job. You must be very sad to sing that song. You need to be in real despair, and my only bad feeling when recording it was that I was frozen in the studio in Zurich. But Peter Scharli and the other guys did a great job, and critics all over the world loved it.
AAJ: And two questions about Obrigado Dom Um Romao: First, you and Scharli each previously did your own versions of "I Fall in Love Too Easily" and then did it together on Obrigado. What do you like to remember about the version on this album?
IK: I love both versions I did—I mean, the one for Autumn in New York and later on for Obrigado Dom Um Romao. The real story behind it: I have always loved that song, especially the Sinatra version, but it only conquered my heart after I listened to a live recording done by
Keith Jarrett
pianob.1945
Then, during the Autumn in New York sessions, which we recorded in two nights with no overdubs, I asked the great German pianist
Jürgen Friedrich
pianoAAJ: And then, what do you like to remember about Dom Um Romao?
IK: A genius, a master, a mentor and a very special human being. God introduced us. I really believe he was put in my life by a divine touch. I learned so much by playing with him, and I know I was able to make him happy during his last years because he was considering retiring after a big tour he had done with Robert Palmer, and I said, "No way—you'll play with me!" Arnaldo booked a European tour for us, and we did unforgettable sold-out concerts at London's Jazz Café in 1998, with the audience dancing all the time in a nonstop trance. He then joined my band, and we recorded on each others' albums and made music together until he passed away in 2005.
AAJ: If we could listen closely enough, what instrumentalists could we hear come through your singing?
IK: I think that all the guys mentioned before. I have an extreme respect for them all. Besides the instrumentalists, there are also the arrangers. Claus Ogerman, Don Sebesky and Michel Colombier taught me a lot about space and silence and how to use them as musical elements. These lessons are priceless.
AAJ: What is something you can share with AAJ readers that might surprise them to learn about you?
IK: I'm facing some serious health issues, but I keep performing. It's very important therapy. In 2012, I've already done 77 concerts in Brazil and abroad. I did a great European tour with Peter Scharli in April and May, and I'll do another one with my group that celebrates the release of Got To Be Real. We'll also do our annual Asian tour and perform for the first time in countries like Turkey and Chipre in October. I've also been doing a lot of classical concerts, singing pieces like Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise," Ogerman's "Tagore Lieder" and Henry Purcell's "Music For a While." The audience response is fantastic!
I also would like to develop my activities in electronic music. Some of the world's best DJs, like the Austrian master Parov Stelar and the German wiz Tom Novy, have remixed my recordings, and all the experiments in this dance area have been extremely successful. Nothing excludes anything. Good music is what matters. More than ever, I try to live each day as if it was the last day of my existence.
Finally, I must say that it's a big honor for me to be interviewed for AAJ. For a third-world artist, it's something that I never dreamed of in my wildest dreams. I must also take this opportunity to give my heartfelt thanks to all the great AAJ staff for having supported my work throughout the years. I treasure the AAJ reviews about my albums, and they made me want to honor your generous words and become a better artist each day.
Selected Discography
Ithamara Koorax, Got to Be Real (Irma, 2012)
The Peter Sch?rli Trio featuring Ithamara Koorax: O Grande Amor (TCB, 2011,)
Ithamara Koorax and Juarez Moreira, Bim Bom: The Complete Joao Gilberto Songbook (Motéma, 2009)
Peter Sch?rli Trio, Obrigado Dom Um Romao (TCB, 2009)
Ithamara Koorax, Autumn in New York (Jazz Station, 2005)
Ithamara Koorax, Love Dance: The Ballad Album (Fantasy, 2003)
Dom Um Romao, Lake of Perseverance (Irma, 2001)
Ithamara Koorax, Serenade in Blue (Milestone, 2000)
Ithamara Koorax, Ithamara Koorax Sings the Luiz Bonfa Songbook (King, 1996)
Photo Credits
Page 1: Elcio Paraiso/Bendita
All Other Photos: Courtesy of
Ithamara Koorax
vocalsb.1965
Tags
Ithamara Koorax
Interview
Chris M. Slawecki
Brazil
Rio de Janeiro
Jorge Pescara
Antonio Carlos Jobim
Jose Roberto Bertrami
Azymuth
Herbie Hancock
Cole Porter
Luiz Bonfa
Thiago de Mello
Eumir Deodato
Dave Brubeck
Ron Carter
Larry Coryell
Claus Ogerman
john mclaughlin
Miles Davis
Chet Baker
Don Sebesky
Joao Gilberto
Sade
Flora Purim
Airto
Jay Berliner
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Raul de Souza
Sarah Vaughan
Mark Murphy
Dom Um Romao
frank sinatra
Tony Bennett
Weather Report
Elis Regina
joe lovano
Dave Douglas
John Coltrane
Chick Corea
pat metheny
Bob James
Sergio Mendes
Barbra Streisand
Return To Forever
Michel Colombier
Michel Legrand
Ross Schneider
Chris Conway
J.J. Johnson
Urszula Dudziak
Betty Carter
Shirley Horn
Lew Soloff
Blood, Sweat & Tears
randy brecker
Freddie Hubbard
Billy Cobham
Steve Gadd
Keith Jarrett
Jurgen Friedrich
Comments
PREVIOUS / NEXT
Support All About Jazz
All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.
Go Ad Free!
To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.
Rio de Janeiro
Concert Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses
| More...
Showcase
Featured
Carnaval - The Songs Were So Beautiful
By Antonio Adolfo buy
Darwin AI: Surivior Choice
By Alex Otey buy
Playlist
Premium
Weekly newsletter
Get more of a good thing
Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories and includes your local jazz events calendar.
Rio de Janeiro
Concert Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses | More...Showcase
Buy Now
Featured
Carnaval - The Songs Were So Beautiful
By Antonio Adolfo buy
