Bruna Black is the up & coming singer Brazil is raving about. A former semi-pro basketball player who grew up listening to her cousins singing in church, Bruna would reach the quarter-finals of the Brazilian edition of “The Voice” in 2020, just short of her 21st birthday. With classical vocal training, drums & percussion, and firm roots in church, Sertanejo, Bossa and Brazilian popular song, Bruna is a multi-faceted artist with a rainbow of expressive vocal colors and a rich story to tell. Since 2021, Bruna has been a part of the sensational duo “Avuá” with legions of fans, a European tour, and millions of views of their videos on YouTube.
John Finbury is an American composer with a flair for Brazilian-influenced music whose career recognition began in 2016 with a Latin Grammy nomination for Song Of The Year (“A Chama Verde”), and an American Grammy nomination in Best Latin Jazz Album in 2020 (“Sorte!”). You’d never know these songs were composed just north of Boston, as John’s songs are consistently featured on playlists alongside the better known Brazilian names in the genre. Since 2017, John has been working with Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning producer Emilio D. Miler, who suggested that Bruna would be the perfect voice for John’s most recent collection of Brazilian-flaired songs, Vã Revelação.
Miler invited Brazilian lyricists (accomplished artists in their own right) to set words to the music: Caro Pierotto & Grecco Buratto, Thalma De Freitas (singer and lyricist for “Sorte!”), Alexia Bomtempo, Apoena Frota, and legend Vitor Ramil, and Bruna herself would write the lyrics for two of the songs.
The songs were recorded at The Power Station in New York City with the same musicians who had participated in the making of “Sorte!”. Vitor Gonçalves is a beacon of elegance and lyricism at the piano (and accordion, in the Forró-inflected track “Chão De Nuvem”), Chico Pinheiro shines on acoustic and electric guitars, John Patitucci is the heart of the rhythm section (and a featured soloist on two tracks), with the inimitable Duduka Da Fonseca on drums and Rogerio Boccato on percussion.
Vã Revelação presents a broad array of sub-genres under the umbrella of Brazilian Jazz: there are classic Bossas and Sambas, but also Baião, Partido Alto, Forró, and Afoxê, as only this band can interpret them. Bruna proves herself a vocal chameleon, shifting in colors, register, and expressive intention.
It is not by chance or luck that Bruna continues to display her artistry across the globe; she is a star, and she makes this music shine. You won’t want this album to end.