To Brazil with Love Diana Panton

• 1 Samba Saravah 04:00
• 2 This Happy Madness 04:05
• 3 The Telephone Song 01:55
• 4 Manha de Carnaval 05:24
• 5 So Nice 03:29
• 6 Is It Really You? 04:21
• 7 The Night Has a Thousand Eyes 04:10
• 8 Dans Mon Ile 05:28
• 9 Felicidade 04:42
• 10 Tu Sais Je Vais T'aimer 04:22
• 11 Dreamer 03:41
• 12 And I Love Him 04:44
• 13 Fais Comme L'oiseau 04:40
• 14 Que Reste-T-Il de Nos Amoure? 06:52
• Total Runtime 01:01:53

Info for To Brazil with Love

Diana Panton was discovered by the Canadian multi-instrumentalist Don Thompson at the tender age of 19. He recommended her for a workshop at the Banff Center for The Arts where she studied singing under the tutorship of Norma Winstone, Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton. Before her first album, she completed her master’s degree in French literature. During her appearances in clubs and at festivals – in Europe and on the American continent – she conjures up “tiny masterpieces created before your very ears” in the words of author Hugh Fraser.

Diana Panton sprinkles charming details over her velvety jazz, that lift it into another realm. She has already been nominated three times for the Juno Award (the Canadian counterpart to the Grammy Awards) and has received high praise from colleagues like the American jazz diva Sheila Jordan: “Diana’s voice sounds like the sweetest bird you'll ever hear.”

On her album “To Brazil With Love”, Diana Panton pays stylish tribute to the musical traditions of Brazil – the Samba and Bossa Nova. In addition to classics of the genre, she also takes a look at those musical offshoots that have influenced British pop, French chansons and jazz. Diana Panton interprets these evergreens in a way that is smooth and sensitive but never sentimental. She sings in English and French and creates a superb balance between charming French coquetry, Brazilian lightness and British understatement.

„Each delightful track is an exquisitely manicured musical facet, set firmly in the Brazilian idiom and seamlessly sung in French and English by Panton. Her diaphanous vocal never insists and her high speed vibrato is like the beat of a hummingbird's heart - natural, untainted and pure.“ (Lesley Mitchell-Clarke, Wholenote Magazine)

Diana Panton, vocals
Maninho Costa, vocals, drums, percussion
Bill McBirnie, flute
Kiki Misumi, cello
Reg Schwager, guitar
Silas Silva, drums, percussion
Don Thompson, bass, piano, vibraphone

Diana Panton
Her keen aesthetic sense has attracted the attention of some of the jazz world’s most respected masters. When Order of Canada and legendary multi-instrumentalist Don Thompson first heard Panton sing at age 19, he recommended she audition for the reputed jazz workshop at the Banff Center for the Arts (Canada). There, she studied under Norma Winstone (and in subsequent visits, Jay Clayton and Sheila Jordan). "When the great singer Sheila Jordan said Diana Panton 'sounds like the sweetest bird you'll ever hear', she helped define some of the ephemeral delicacy that marks Panton as unique." (Stuart Broomer, Toronto Life)

Before recording her first album, Panton completed an Honours Masters degree in French literature and fulfilled a teaching engagement at the University of Paris (France), followed by a position as a French Sessional Lecturer at McMaster University (Canada). She then completed a teaching degree in French, Visual and Dramatic Arts which would eventually lead to her current position at Westdale Secondary (Canada).

When the time finally arrived to go into the studio, national award-winning guitarist Reg Schwager was invited to join Don Thompson for some stellar accompaniment behind Panton’s pure vocals. The late great Montreal jazz critic Len Dobbin called “...yesterday perhaps” one of the finest debut CDs he had heard in years! It landed Diana on the covers of VIEW and NOW Magazine and the album made NOW's TOP 10 Discs of the Year. The album was also awarded a Silver Disc Award upon its release in Japan in 2011.

Since her initial CD release, Panton’s career has been gathering steady momentum. Her impressive catalogue of internationally acclaimed albums have garnered numerous honours, including a second Silver Disc Award in Japan, three JUNO nominations, 7 Hamilton Music Awards, a host of National Jazz Award nominations, Canadian and American Independent Music Award nominations. Her sophomore album, "if the moon turns green ..." was the first place jury-selection to perform at the Jazz à Juan Révélations where she was voted Première Dauphine by the Juan public. Most recently, she was named one of Canada’s TOP 5 Jazz Vocalists by CBC radio host Tim Tamashiro.

One gets the feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg for Panton... this artist is on the brink of something big.

Booklet for To Brazil with Love