The São Paulo-born, LA-based, vocalist Luciana Souza's new collaboration with esteemed Grammy-winning arranger Vince Mendoza and the WDR big band is a return to her native roots following 2018's poetry-led The Book of Longing, dedicated to Leonard Cohen.

But the value of song text is by no means abandoned on Storytellers, her 10th album for Sunnyside, even though she sings a selection of Brazilian classics in her Portuguese mother tongue. Mendoza's exquisite large ensemble arrangements are discerningly aligned with Souza's previous penchant for intimate, sparsely-textured settings. Pastel-coloured woodwind and understated brass have a velvety yet punchy quality, and seamlessly dovetail with Souza's heartfelt vocal, especially on the wordless opener ‘Varanda’. Her expressive interpretation of Tom Jobim's celebrated Odyssean ‘Matita Perê’ has Mendoza's subtle chamber sonorities weaving in counterpoint; elsewhere Djavan's rock-fuelled ‘Se Aconceteur’ gets a Steely Dan-ish makeover while Mendoza's Grammy-nominated ‘Choros #3’ pulsates with Souza's effortless scat.