Album Notes

HARD COPY OF CD AVAILABLE - please email annasallehbossa@gmail.com to find out more

Sydney-based singer/guitarist Anna Salleh was first captivated by the beauty of Brazilian music as a child, when she saw the film 'Black Orpheus'. It introduced her to the enchanting world that is bossa nova and much more.

Over the years, Anna’s vocals have featured in world/jazz ensembles from Sydney and Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur and the Edinburgh Festival. Most recently she spent three months in Rio de Janeiro performing with local musicians, seeking out the wisdom of bossa nova elders and other teachers, and broadening her repertoire to include other styles of Brazilian music, including samba and choro - her journey of musical discovery there featured in an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio documentary.

Anna’s live album 'A Felicidade' includes a gorgeous selection of Brazilian tunes as well as other gems.

“This CD pays homage to music that has communicated an essence to me – of joy, of sorrow, or something less tangible - but no less moving,” says Anna.

“‘A Felicidade’ means ‘Happiness’ in Portuguese. But the song is really about ‘both sides’ of life – as embodied in the melodies and voices from Brazil and beyond that have become part of the air that I breathe.”

“From the irrepressible beat of sambas to the enchanting melodies of bossa novas and choros; from the joy of Ella Fitzgerald to the dreaming of Joni Mitchell; and from the soaring purity of Eva Cassidy to the passionate Ladino depth of Yasmin Levy.”

The album features some of Sydney's best world/jazz musicians including Jess Ciampa on percussion, Lukas Maio on piano/piano accordion, Clare O'Meara on violin/mandolin, Stan Valacos on bass/7-string guitar, together with Tim Bradley and Calvin Welch on drums.

Notes on some of the songs in Portuguese:
The samba O Homem Falou calls for everyone to unite in music and celebration, while O Samba da Minha Terra says ‘Whoever doesn’t like the samba - there’s something wrong with their head or something wrong with their feet’. Doce de Coco is a delicious Brazilian coconut dessert, but in this beautiful choro, the phrase is used as a term of endearment in a flirtatious begging for forgiveness. Meanwhile, in Una Noche Mas there is a bitter plea for just one more night of love, and to be deceived just one more time. And in Mas Que Nada we hear a feisty demand to ‘get out of my way because I want to samba!’