BIANCA ROSSINI

Bianca Rossini Vento do Norte Review: Sensual Samba & Soulful Rhythms – Mike Greenblatt

Blame it on the bossa-nova but Bianca Rossini, on her third CD, can give up her day jobs. She’s the Brazilian actress, poet, author, singer, songwriter, supermodel, television host and columnist whose Vento do Norte (Apaixonada Music/BDM Music) is so mellifluous and sensual that it’s bound to be an international hit.This is a gal who knows whereof she came, thus she name checks the greatest samba of them all — Antonio Carlos Jobim’s 1964 “Girl From Ipanema” — in her own “Ipanema Paraiso,” a bold move if you can’t back it up…and she does, in spades. (It helps to have the silken tone of tenor saxophonist Jimmy Roberts adding a sailing solo.) She’s also brave enough to openly write of lust in her “Tic Tac do Amor.” The 10 playful beach-ready tracks utilize different rhythm sections for segues that sound as passionate as they do soulful. My only confusion is “Paris In Beverly Hills” where she sings the title line in English, begging the question of why Paris without the pay-off of an answer in the verses which are sung in Portuguese. Still, this is a sensuous and seductive keeper.