First (and Last?) Contact with Paula Maya

Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

This morning I had my first (and probably last) encounter with Paula Maya’s latest album, Rio de Janeiro. As of this writing, the album is available for MP3 download and streaming through an Amazon.com Web page; and, presumably, that Web page will be updated to account for “physical” availability, which is scheduled for August 1. Maya has been releasing recordings since 1995, which, ironically comes right after the death of Antônio Carlos Jobim in December of 1994. However, to call her a “successor” to Jobim would be a questionable stretch.

My immediate impression from “first contact” with the opening track, “Rosalie,” is that Maya’s sense of pitch is annoyingly uncertain. The good news is that she has rich and capable instrumental backup, but their efforts to steer her in the right direction are limited. On the other hand, the tunes themselves are rather routine; and, in the absence of clear and expressive pitch, there is very little delivered on each of the seven tracks to attract and sustain attentive listening.

To be fair, I do not follow Brazilian trends quite as closely as I attend to other genres; but this album definitely makes the case for me that I would prefer to celebrate the past rather that explore the present!