\"Unfailingly upbeat...great example of Joyce's versatility\" Downbeat
\"Radiates a funky 70s spirit whilst sounding spankingly modern...compelling\" Songlines
\"Classy and Entirely successful\" Independent
Joyce combines her wonderfully expressive swoop and soar vocal with special guest bossa legend Joao Donato's peerless pulsating piano and warmly-crafted rhythms. Injecting pure-quality jazz into bossa nova, old-school Brazilian samba and laid back Cuban vibes, 'Aquarius' is intricate yet endlessly listenable. Blending breezy ease and elegant sophistication with Donato's unique stop/start groove this is a special roots session that sounds utterly fresh. Featuring true classics alongside stunning new compositions this gorgeous recording is testament to Joyce's standing as Brazil's greatest female singer-songwriter & celebrated international artist.
Together Joyce and Donato have produced their finest modern work. 'Aquarius' radiates all the funky spirit of the crossover Brazilian jazz of '70s Brazil. Both Joyce and Donato have included new versions of their most famous tracks -- 'Feminina' and 'Amazonas' respectively -- while new tracks including the jumping 'No Fundo Do Mar' and addictive 'Xangô É De Baê' are true standouts. Joyce uses that voice in wonderful solo and memorable duet with Donato's golden vocal.
Joyce recorded her debut album in 1968 and has since issued more than 20 solo albums, heard more than 300 recordings of her songs by many of Brazil's most respected singers (Milton Nascimento, Elis Regina, Flora Purim and Gal Costa amongst them) and toured the world many times over. Brazil's always been a land rich in fine female singers, yet Joyce stands out -- she plays guitar, leads her band and writes much of her material. Since the beginning of her career she has employed a first-person feminine idiom. She was the first female Brazilian composer in the history of MPB (Music Popular Brazil) to express herself in this form. Following spells in influential bands A Tribo and Luiz Eça's Familia Sagrada, in 1975 poet/songwriter Vinicius de Moraes (co-writer of 'The Girl from Ipanema') invited Joyce to join him on an international tour as singer and guitarist. This led to Joyce commencing a relationship with Europe that continues to this day.
Joyce's International popularity came with her 1980 recording 'Feminina' that was a huge success, original copies changing hands for hundreds of dollars. In 1996 Joyce shared the stage with Liza Minelli, Tony Bennet, James Brown and numerous other legends at 'The Songwriters Hall of Fame' ceremonies in New York and has toured internationally for many years, performing at countless music festivals worldwide. Far Out's re-issue of Joyce, Nana Vasconcelos and Mauricio Maestro's 1976 lost classic 'Vision's of Dawn' caught the imagination of the world's press and crossed over to become a cult record with beautiful ease in 2009 giving Joyce's profile a huge lift. With four decades of recording behind her 'Aquarius' (a Japanese exclusive November 2009 and now available for the first time worldwide) is Joyce's sixth album on the Far Out imprint.
A Brazilian musician and composer of almost mythical proportions, João Donato is one of the surviving - and still prospering - members of a generation that produced Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, Luiz Eça and many other masters associated with the heyday of bossa nova. The impish pianist, known for his deliberate, single-note musings and catchy compositions is one of very few artists whose sound defines bossa.
