GUINGA Natalie Cressman & Ian Faquini

• 1 Contradição 04:33
• 2 Bolero de Satã 04:49
• 3 Lavagem de Conceição 02:42
• 4 Aria de Opereta 02:33
• 5 Delírio Carioca 02:06
• 6 Ramo de Delírios 03:28
• 7 Por Trás de Brás de Pina 03:00
• 8 Par Constante 07:28
• 9 Garoa e Maresia 02:59
• 10 Segredo de Dadá 04:12
• 11 Nítido e Obscuro / Geraldo No Leme 02:27
• 12 Ellingtoniana 05:12
• 13 Viola Variada 03:35
• 14 Vô Alfredo 02:57
• Total Runtime 52:01

Info for GUINGA

Born as Carlos Althier de Souza Lemos Escobar, Guinga grew up in Rio de Janeiro absorbing Brazilian contemporary and folkloric music as well as classical, rock, pop and Jazz. Having shaped a creative identity that embraces the signature energy of Brazil’s diverse artistic enterprise, Guinga’s legacy lives within the spirit of crafting a voice that’s essentially Brazilian while cultivating a vivacious universal appeal. A spirit lovingly captured by trombonist Natalie Cressman and guitarist Ian Faquini within their new GroundUP album GUINGA, releasing on April 12, 2024.

Trombone/classical guitar duos are very rare in Jazz. While few dare to exist beyond the occasional recording or live performance, Cressman and Faquini have transformed their platform into a sophisticated medium showcasing the extraordinary influence Brazilian contemporary artistry has had on music throughout the world. Tagged as the “Bossa Nova girl” while studying at the Manhattan School of Music, Cressman has always been inspired by Brazilian culture, frequently attending the California Brazil Camp in the mountainous enclave of Cazadero, California where she met Faquini, a Guinga protégé teaching at this annual summer gathering.

In time they discovered the dynamic nature of their instrumental pairing as well as the unique aperture it lends to the intricate nature of Brazilian music. Having mastered a resonant, open, and full bodied sound, Cressman and Faquini utilize a spacious tonal vocabulary, deft harmonic pairings and meticulous arranging that perfectly lends itself to the unique repertoire they’ve cultivated over the years. Steadied by the Brazilian aural tradition of learning, each has honed the necessary skills that accentuate the rich lyrical nature of música popular brasileira with its exquisite storytelling and incisive musical lens. Their two previous albums, Setting Rays of Summer (2019) and Auburn Whisper (2022) received well-deserved acclaim and attention.

Organic, improvisational and often initiated by humming out melodies, Guinga’s compositional style has played a significant role in shaping Cressman and Faquini’s artistic chemistry. Having spent years watching the master at work, both are fluent in the processes that powers Guinga’s magic, as his fluid incorporation of musical influences blends seamlessly with the florid temperament of their own creative ambitions. After recording albums exploring their personal relationship to contemporary Brazilian music, it was only a matter of time before Cressman and Faquini decided to focus on Guinga, a musician who’s been a mentor, teacher, collaborator and friend throughout the course of their careers.

Unlike most tribute albums celebrating artists long past, Guinga’s contributions are central to the process of the recording. Composing, arranging, and collaborating as a lyricist, Guinga’s ingenuity is matched only by his evocative and often haunting vocals. Compact, discreet, remarkably positioned with no less than fourteen songs, the album flows effortlessly like a personal juke box supplied by an endless roll of Brazilian centavos, all while unfolding into a delicate mosaic of Guinga’s musical world view.

Natalie Cressman, trombone, vocals (track 3 & 10)
Ian Faquini, guitar (all except track 8 & 12) and vocals (track 3)
Guinga, guitar (track 8 & 12) and vocals (track 1, 3, 10)
Anna Paes, vocals (track 3)
Sandy Cressman, vocals (track 3)

Natalie Cressman
Possessing a voice as cool and crystalline as an Alpine stream, Natalie Cressman is a rising singer/songwriter and trombonist who draws inspiration from a vast array of deep and powerful musical currents. She released her 5th album in April 2019, this time in collaboration with Brazilian composer, guitarist and vocalist Ian Faquini. Drawing from impressionism, jazz, and the great Brazilian songwriting tradition, Setting Rays of Summer is a ten-track collection of original material featuring compositions in three different languages: Portuguese, English and French. With the warm instrumentation of acoustic guitar and trombone alongside two-part vocal harmonies hugging the Brazilian-accented Portuguese, Cressman & Faquini weave their musical voices together to create a fully orchestrated sound befitting a much larger ensemble. ​

Steadily evolving in many directions, the 29-year-old Cressman has already put down deep roots in several overlapping scenes. A prodigiously talented New York City-based trombonist, she’s spent the past ten years touring the jam band circuit as a horn player and vocalist with Phish's Trey Anastasio. Deeply versed in Latin jazz, post-bop, pop, and Brazilian music, she tapped the interlaced traditions on her first two solo albums, 2012’s Unfolding and 2014’s Turn the Sea.

She released The Traces EP in 2017, revealing her latest evolution, as she expands her creative reach into post-production with meticulously crafted soundscaped tracks inspired by R&B singer/songwriter Emily King, the Prince-championed vocal trio KING, and particularly Australian avant-soul quartet Hiatus Kaiyote. The Traces EP follows on the heels of 2016’s Etchings in Amber, a gorgeous duo album with guitarist Mike Bono that introduced Cressman as a formidable musical force without her horn. While the project focuses on songs featuring lyrics she wrote for several Bono compositions, Cressman also wrote words and music for three of her songs, contributing to the atmospheric suite of jazz-inflected, genre-bending tunes. ​

When she’s not performing her own music, Cressman can be found collaborating with some of the most illustrious figures in rock, funk, jazz and beyond, which have included Phish, Big Gigantic, Carlos Santana, Escort, Wycliffe Gordon, Nicholas Payton, Anat Cohen, The Motet, and Umphrey's McGee. Her passion for groove music hasn’t diluted her love of jazz. In 2016 SFJAZZ commissioned her to develop music for a concert celebrating the legacy of jazz trombonist/arranger Melba Liston. She also continues her long-standing musical relationship with world jazz innovator Peter Apfelbaum, performing with his band Sparkler. A fellow Bay Area native, Apfelbaum has hired Cressman since she was a young teen, a relationship that exemplifies the creative hothouse in which she was raised. ​

Her mother, Sandy Cressman, is a jazz vocalist who immersed herself deeply into the traditions of Brazilian music, collaborating with many of Brazil’s most respected musicians. Her father, Jeff Cressman, is a recording engineer and trombonist who recently concluded a two-decade run with Santana. Natalie quite naturally began studying trombone with her father, but set out to be a dancer rather than a musician. An aspiring ballet dancer until her junior year of high school, she changed courses when an injury sidelined her dance aspirations. Her parents provided entrée to a number of enviable opportunities, but Cressman's own prodigious gifts continued to merit her presence in any number of high-profile settings. She soon found herself playing salsa with Uruguayan percussionist Edgardo Cambon e Orquesta Candela, Latin jazz with Pete Escovedo's Latin Jazz Orchestra, world music with Jai Uttal and the Pagan Love Orchestra, and globally-inspired avant-garde jazz with multi-instrumentalist Peter Apfelbaum, a close family friend. ​

Cressman traveled east in 2009 to study at the Manhattan School of Music, and the following year jam band pioneer Trey Anastasio recruited her for his touring band. He met Cressman at 18, and “was instantly floored by how melodically and naturally she played and sang,” Anastasio says. “Natalie is the rarest of musicians. Born into a musical family and raised in a home filled with the sounds of Brazilian music, jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms, musicality is in her DNA." Her far flung musical passions continue to bear new fruit, as her identity as a horn player and a singer/songwriter evolve in different directions. Playing funk trombone in arenas and cavernous theaters has required developing an aggressive new vocabulary of shouts, growls, smears and yelps, a la the JB Horns’ Fred Wesley. Her vocal work in increasingly intimate and rhythmically insinuating settings has revealed an artist who can thrive in any setting, from raucous, reverberant halls to packed and pulsing lofts and nightclubs. In an epoch marked by infinite musical possibilities, Natalie Cressman is a singular force who draws from an improbable breadth of sonic realms.

Ian Faquini
is a Brazilian composer, guitarist, and vocalist who was born in Brasília and has lived in Berkeley, California since the age of eight. He was a member of the renowned Berkeley High School Jazz program, and at the age of 15, Ian met the legendary Brazilian composer Guinga, who became his mentor and inspired him to pursue a career in music, drawing on the rich musical traditions of his Brazilian heritage. Ian went on to study at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley and immediately after graduating joined the faculty there. He is also on the faculty at California Brazil Camp, alongside musical legends including Ivan Lins, Guinga, Chico Pinheiro, and Spok. Ian has become one of the most unique and respected guitar players in the San Francisco Bay Area, with his distinct compositional style and harmonic sense. He is also a brilliant accompanist, which has made him an in-demand collaborator with vocalists in the Bay Area and beyond. ​​

In 2014, he released his debut album with flautist Rebecca Kleinmann, entitled Brasiliense, which features all original compositions by Faquini and draws from a wide range of musical sources from the 20th century, from impressionism and jazz to the great Brazilian songwriting tradition. ​​

Faquini released his second album, Metal na Madeira, in 2016, this time in collaboration with acclaimed vocalist Paula Santoro, who hails from Minas Gerais. The image that ultimately emerges from Metal na Madeira is more than a portrait of two artists creating together. It also conjures the timeless landscape of the Brazilian Northeast, from which both artists draw immense inspiration. Into that space, Faquini and Santoro invite an all-star cast of collaborators, including Brazilian saxophone great Spok, leader of Recife’s Spok Frevo Orquestra; Bay Area multi-reedist Harvey Wainapel; trombonist Jeff Cressman; keyboardist and accordion player Vitor Gonçalves; bassist Scott Thompson; drummer/percussionist Rafael Barata; and pandeiro player Sergio Krakowski. ​​

The album consists of nine original compositions by Faquini and presents a fresh take on traditional Northeastern rhythms such as Maracatu, Frevo, Baião, Xote, and Toada. Faquini’s music keeps one foot firmly planted in the past while stepping briskly towards the future with modern harmonic and melodic structures. The duo captivated audiences in Brazil and across the United States on their first tour together in the fall of 2016, receiving critical acclaim from the Seattle Times, Berkleyside, UK Vibe, and others, including The Mercury News’ “Best of 2016” list. ​

This album contains no booklet.