| Claudia Villela (2019) | |
|---|---|
(Photo by Aloizio Jordao) | Pianist, singer, composer and arranger Claudia Villela comes to the Bay Area from her native Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Claudia's voice is an incredibly flexible instrument, and she sings with an achingly pure tone. She has a great imagination to accompany it, too, choosing from her sonic palate of brass instruments, various bird calls, rushing water and rustling wind. Claudia has worked with Toots Thielmans, Michael Brecker, Toninho Horta, Kenny Werner, Romero Lubambo, and many others. Shortly before Christmas 2017, just as Claudia was about to return from a vacation back home, an electrical fire swept through her family's Rio apartment, destroying her passport, computer, piano, and family mementos. She was lucky to survive, escaping with burns to her hands and feet, and suffering smoke inhalation. But, thankfully, she still had her voice, and she was back performing, and healing—both inside and out—by the end of the following month. Claudia's most release is a retrospective of live dates, "Encantada Live". |
| Pick | Artist | Album | Song | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # 1 | Chick Corea | Mad Hatter | The Woods | Polydor |
| # 2 | Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges | Clube da Esquina | Cais | World Pacific |
| # 3 | Milton Nascimento | Anima | Evocação das Montanhas | Polygram |
| # 4 | Bill Evans and Toots Thielemans | Affinity | I Do It for Your Love | Warner Bros |
| # 5 | Elis Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim | Elis & Tom | Só Tinha de Ser Com Você | Verve |
| # 6 | Milton Nascimento | A Barca dos Amantes | Amor de Indio | Verve |
| # 7 | Antonio Carlos Jobim | Symphonic Jobim | Matita Palê | Adventure Music |
| # 8 | Egberto Gismonti Trio | ZigZag | Forrobodó | ECM |
| Book | The "I Ching" | |||
| Luxury Item | "A house with a studio and a Bösendorfer." | |||