Breathe http://www.fishpond.co.nz/Music/Brea-Lenine-Haydee-Milanes-Kelvis/5022627013121

Artist: Yusa

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• Composer: Yusa.
  
• Additional personnel: Lenine Milanes, Hayd‚e Milan‚s.
  
• Think of Cuba, and the first thing that comes to mind is salsa. Great artists like Celia Cruz, Beny Mor‚, Orquesta Arag¢n, Machito, la Sonora Matancera, Mongo Santamaria and los Van Van. Great rhythms like son, cha-cha, guaracha, mambo, danz¢n and guaguanc¢ -- all the Afro-Cuban rhythms that the New Yorkers at Fania Records started calling salsa in the '70s. But on her second album, Breathe, Yusa reminds us that a female vocalist from Cuba doesn't necessarily have to be a salsera in the traditional Celia Cruz/Jacqueline Castellanos/Albita/Caridad Cuervo sense. What transpires on this risk-taking CD is best described as a combination of Spanish lyrics (with occasional detours into English or French), Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Cuban sensibilities, R&B and a singer/songwriter aesthetic; Yusa gets some inspiration from Brazilian vocalists like Gal Costa, Rosa Passos and Maria Bethania (although she doesn't sing in Portuguese on this album), as well as from English-speaking singer/songwriters such as Joni Mitchell and Joan Armatrading. Yusa is definitely jazz-influenced, but not in a hard-swinging, aggressive way; she favors a jazzy subtlety on pensive, relaxed offerings like "El Fantasma del Marino," "La Espera," "Del Miedo" and "Una Vaca y Una Foca." The use of subtlety and restraint is something she has in common with Mitchell as well as Costa, Passos and Bethania -- and while "Descarga Track: Canda'o Cerra'o" has a strong Afro-Cuban flavor, Breathe owes just as much (if not more) to the Brazilian samba rhythm. Yusa, for the most part, is not a shouter or a belter, but she is funky in an understated way -- and she has no problem getting her emotional points across on this memorable sophomore effort. ~ Alex Henderson