Tania Raymonde

The time I felt an explosion of musical love, was when through the hands and sounds of my favorite Brazilian pianist Luis Eca, I saw, heard and felt a colored flash of beauty, harmonious, sensual, loving, sweet, bitter, irritating. We discovered that music was a woman; assertive, urgent, possessive, dominant, explosive, but always bringing and explosive, powerful discovery, that by mixing bodies and souls without hesitation, you reach that desired target. Even today I'm fascianted by the strength and power of the musicians sounds in relation to our sensibility.

Tania Maria's debut is a mix of hushed bossa numbers and up-tempo, jazz-inflected sambas that show off the prowess of her nine-piece band. "Zé," which belongs to the latter category, is an original tune that begins with Maria's slightly over-the-top scatting and builds into a kickin' samba jam; on "Para Chick," a Tom Jobim instrumental, the group is at its most improvisational, with Maria herself (on piano) dishing out some fine solos; and on the tempo-shifting "Ideias E Ideias," Maria manages to sound like Astrud Gilberto and Ella Fitzgerald within the span of a few chord changes. Though it's heavy on the standard bossa/samba fare, it's also a uniformly solid album and a fine introduction to Maria's catalog.

In the early '80s, Tânia Maria burst upon the U.S. music scene, playing an exuberant blend of Brazilian pop and jazz. Her first few recordings for Concord Picante (of which Come with Me is the third) remain her most rewarding sets. Maria's spirited vocals and hyper keyboard work star throughout the date (which finds her interpreting seven of her originals and "Embraceable You"), supported by a sextet including both Eddie Duran and José Neto on guitar.

Raymonde Beaudoin a vécu une année dans un camp de bûcherons avec ses parents. Sa mère, Colette St-Georges, a toujours été fière de parler de son travail comme Cook. C'est la tête haute qu'elle affirmait avoir cuisiné quotidiennement une tarte par homme, en plus des galettes et des gâteaux. Celles et ceux qui relevaient le défi de nourrir tous les jours une cinquantaine d'hommes héritaient d'une lourde tâche : les garder en bonne santé et leur offrir une cuisine roborative et goûteuse. …

Tenace, Champlain l'est de façon admirable. Est-ce par penchant naturel ou par une forme de sublimation qu'il est tout entier à son projet de colonisation ? Rien en effet ne l'en distrait. Il est ferme, inflexible, déterminé. Son action est sans compromis. Il observe, calcule et note. Il relève les plus petits détails à propos de la terre et de ses habitants. Rapidement, il s'approprie le territoire par ses observations rapportées dans ses récits et sur ses cartes. Il nomme le pays. …