FRANCESCA CONFORTINI & RYAN MACKENZIE

MOSAICO

Tessera Records

Francesca Confortini’s voice is full of joy and excitement.  She is a versatile songwriter, arranger, session singer and vocal coach. Ryan MacKenzie is a London-based composer, arranger and musical director.  He is heralded as someone who can blend jazz, pop, classical and traditional folk music into one cohesive package.  In this project, the Italian born vocalist (now based in the UK) and the Scottish arranger merge talents to create a very Latin flavored, Brazilian jazz album called “Mosaico.”

On a trip to Brazil in 2018, Ryan MacKenzie saw Maria Rita in concert and her Brazilian songs and music touched his heart.

“Her albums were my way into Brazilian song. I actually arranged a bunch of songs I heard as my portfolio to apply for my master’s at Guildhall. What began as an instinctive pull later developed into a more structural understanding through study and arranging work,” Mackenzie writes in the liner notes.

His arrangements compliment Francesca’s lovely voice in a beautiful way.  The two musicians met at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.  They open this album with Dorival Caymmi’s composition, “Rosa Morena.”  Confortini’s rhythmical voice blends with this percussive arrangement, becoming an intricate part of her rhythm section. The MacKenzie arrangement includes a lush horn section, Brazilian rhythms, and strings. I wanted to get up from my computer and dance around my listening room. Francesca adds scat-singing to the production, becoming an impressive human instrument.

On “Casa Forte” Confortini is joined by two other powerful vocalists, Tereza Catarov and Francesca Raimondi-Taylor, who are tightly harmonic, like a human horn section. Matheus Nova performs an inspired bass solo and the drums of Marcinho Pereira are brightly spotlighted along with percussionist Barak Schmool.

The vocalist’s interpretation of “How Insensitive” pulls at my heart strings.  The string section adds to the drama and beauty of this arrangement.

This is an album of great music charts by Ryan MacKenzie. They become a lovely roadmap to direct the voice of Francesca Confortini and this incredible ensemble of musicians onto a unified and exciting path of Brazilian music. This celebration of culture, using a shared musical language, becomes a mosaic (Mosaico), a pathway of excellence and excitement.

THE ORCHESTRA: Francesco Confortini, vocals; Ryan MacKenzie, arranger; Ed Rice, piano; Luca Boscagin, guitar; Matheus Nova, bass; Marcinho Pereira, drums; Barak Schmool, percussion; Tereza Catarov & Francesca Raimondi-Taylor, additional vocals; SAXOPHONES: Tom Smith, Andrew Woolf, David Bitelli, George Millard. TRUMPET/FLUGELHORN: Luke Vice-Coles; TROMBONES: Joel Knee. STRINGS: Alicja Smietana, Laura Ayoub, Dan Oates & Phillip Granell, violin; Merlyn Sturt & Georgia Russell, viola; Sarah Ayoub & Wayne Urquhart, cello.  CHOIR: Ekansh Agarwal, Gloria Atzeni, Maria Jose de Barros Rodriques, Lisabel Biscaldi, Esther Lenda Bokuma, Grace Bowman, Lynn Bowman, Heather Burton, Michelle Burton, Alessia Calentini, Ana Caroline, Beatriz Cepeda, Burju Ceyran, Brian Clemens, Ed Cox, Alessandro Cortez, Dominique Durner, Ofek Farhi, Nali, Nete Freire, Jessica de Giudici, Chris Heather, Veronica Largiu, Axelle Laurent, Marina Leão, Mazé, Giulia Marelli, Leonor Marques, Tiana Moreira, Valéria Vicenca Carvalho do Norte, Camilla Ricchiuti, Jordan Rutland, Vitor Hugo Sales, Isabela Pereira dos Santos, Giulia Saracino, Andrea Schmidt, Dom Stockbridge, Kateryna Svyryd, Natalia Ungar, Minnu Elsa Varghese, Nice Vilela, & Natalja Zaugarova.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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