Pauline London
Under The Rainbow

‘Under the Rainbow’ is the new, eagerly awaited work by Pauline London. After the great international success of her first album ‘Quiet Skies’ (2004), Pauline returns with a new CD with a Jazz flavour, NuJazz Latin-Jazz with Pop veins. If her first work had a strong electronic-jazz imprint, ‘Under the Rainbow’ represents an evolution towards a more acoustic and orchestral sound. The title contains a reference to the famous standard, wanting to find continuity in the tradition of great American music, but at the same time tracing her own personal compositional and interpretative path. Being ‘under’ the rainbow is a way of being in the present, here and now, enjoying the inspirations and creativity that this multi-coloured spectrum can offer us. Through the rainbow we can find the shades of light after a darker moment, we can nourish ourselves with new lifeblood. This work therefore represents a continuity with the “musical colors” of ‘Quiet Skies’, but makes them more mature and homogeneous. A refined mix of acoustic and sampled instruments is the common thread of the album. The whole thing is skillfully constructed by the arrangements that are now more essential, now expertly architected at the level of orchestrations inspired by the great Italian masters Morricone, Trovaioli, Piccioni. Characterizing this path, Pauline’s voice moves with ductility between the sunny atmospheres of songs inspired by samba and bossa-nova, continuing towards more introspective and rarefied moments, arriving at accents of pop rock flavor. The thirteen songs of the album unfold between original compositions and the re-proposal of some standards and pop covers. Among the unreleased songs, I still miss you stands out with its Latin-jazz flavour and evocative and nostalgic tones, with its crescendo in the constant modulation of tones. Colors, bright and sunny, towards the engaging and dynamic up-tempo. It recalls in its composition and lyrics the spirit contained in the album title, that rainbow of colours that is inside and outside of us. Amor para sonhar has the lively spirit of samba with a bilingual Portuguese-English text. In black and white represents a more introspective moment marked by an electro-swing style. Walking on the sand with a retro-beat pace. Meu amor meu coracao soft samba with a light and singable chorus So I episode with a more aggressive character of rock imprint, recalls the tradition of American songwriters. Peace (is the only way) also this more on the pop wave, but with profound contents that recall a hymn to peace as the only viable way. Moment of magic soft and lulling acoustic rhythm and strings Pauline wanted to pay homage to authors and artists who are part of her background by choosing four “classic” songs, each in its own genre. The very famous The Shadow of your Smile conceived with orchestral interventions in the style of Ennio Morricone, Change partner, a Brazilian style song made famous by the great Sinatra, here enriched by the polyphonic interlocking of four guitars. Breakout, a song by ‘Swing Out Sister’ emerges from the Anglo-Saxon pop scene of the 80s. It is here revisited in a Latin-samba key with a driving rhythm. Senza Fine, an emblematic title both because it is placed as the last track on the CD, to recall a sort of cyclicality, of continuity between the end and the new beginning, and because it is a great song from the Italian musical tradition. This three-quarter is reinterpreted as a sophisticated nu-jazz standard. Pauline London, singer, author and composer, has performed in numerous Italian and European jazz clubs and festivals since the early 90s. Her versatility leads her to effectively mix various styles and sounds. She moves with ease in the territory of classic and modern jazz standards, proposes pop songs rearranged according to the jazz style, to arrive at her original compositions that effectively mix jazz, nu-jazz, latin-jazz, pop and rock suggestions. Her influences range transversally from Latin American music to the great voices of jazz such as Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Mel Tormé, Dianne Reeves, to arrive at the most refined and sophisticated pop of artists such as Sade, Sting, Seal, Noa and the new nu-bossa trends in the style of Bebel Gilberto and Cibelle. She is also a vocal improviser who collects the tradition of scat singing enriching it with phrases derived from ethnic music, pop and rock. Her constant research and curiosity about the various aspects of vocality also leads her to study non-European musical systems (in particular, North Indian singing and Karnataka singing) and the Italian folk tradition. In 2004, published by the Funky Juice Rec. label, her first solo album ‘Quiet Skies’ was released, which immediately received great international acclaim. The album was licensed to Sony Columbia Japan. In 2008 she was a guest at the Nu Note Lounge Fest in Moscow. Pauline goes nta numerous collaborations as an author and performer. In 2002 she participated as a guest vocalist on the CD ‘Spectrum’ by Barrio Jazz Gang, distributed in several European and non-European countries including Australia and Japan. In 2004 she was a guest vocalist on the album ‘My Favourite Beats’ by ‘Dynamic Four’. In 2009 she was a guest vocalist and author of the lyrics for some tracks on the new CD by Barrio Jazz Gang ‘2’.