New release!

Encantada Live ★★★★1/2

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Vocalist-composer Claudia Villela puts her stunning, supple virtuosity on vivid display with the April 12 release of Encantada Live on her own Taina Music label. Drawn from several live performances, the album alternates between performances by a septet, a quartet featuring Villela on piano, and intimate duets with various partners. It also includes three of Villela’s originals, three interpretations of key Brazilian composers, and three wholly improvised pieces by Villela and her accompanists.

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Featuring Kenny Werner, Bruce Dunlap, Jeff Buenz, Ricardo Peixoto, Jasnam Daya Singh,  Gary Brown, Michael Spyro, Andy Connel, Paul Van Wageningen and Celso Alberti.

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"All discussions about Claudia Villela’s singing and songwriting necessarily start with a nod to the dizzying scope and depth of her improvisatory skill."

Suzanne Lorge-DownBeat Magazine

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"Dreamy and surreal but with South Hemisphere elan, Encantada Live is a rare album in that plenty of beauty and mystery await."

Mark Keranim-Icon Magazine

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"Encantada Live also places her remarkable abilities into the context of compositional form."

-All About Jazz

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"Brazilian wonder Claudia Villela's key to the riveting and celebratory album is spontaneity...a revelation!"

Dan Ouellette-NYC Informer

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"Her voice is beautiful in all registers which allows her to stretch out and be as creative as she wants.

Encantada Live features Ms Villela at her best."

Scott Yanow-Los Angeles Jazz Scene

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"She is the only singer I've met who not only can play free for a whole set, but can bring enough textures to make it feel like spontaneous composition."

-Kenny Werner

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