Jazzwise

It’s been five years since Georgia Mancio’s debut Peaceful Place. If that album showcased her clarity and lightness of touch, then Trapeze – the singer’s new, wilfully eclectic, 12-tracks collection – serves to underline yet more of her fine qualities.

Perhaps most impressive of all is her versatility across a range of settings. The album jumps from Jobim/Moraes to Lionel Bart (‘Where is Love’) to Stanley Turrentine (‘Sugar’) without ever once loosing its footing. Backed only by bass and drum, a crisply articulated ‘My Heart Stood Still’ illustrates her rock-solid sense of time, while gorgeously seductive interpretations of Violetta Parra’s enduringly popular ‘Gracias a la Vida’ and Seu Jorge’s classic Brazilian take on ‘Life on Mars?’ lifts the lid on her capacious imagination and storytelling gift.