Brazilian Girls Forecast: Catching On, With Verve.

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Author: Paoletta, Michael

The Brazilian Girls are not Brazilianâ€"nor are they all girls. But one thing is certain: The New York-based quartet is an essential element in the Verve Music Group's relaunch of the legendary Forecast label.

An international priority for the label, the Brazilian Girls' self-titled debut album, due Feb. 1 (two weeks earlier at Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store), will be one of Verve Forecast's first offerings. It carries a suggested retail price of $14.98.

To be sure, "Brazilian Girls" is poised to set the tone for the imprint's relaunch.

In its new incarnation, Verve Forecast will be home to the non-jazz artists signed under the Verve Music Group banner. In this way, it will focus on the ever-growing adult contemporary marketâ€"just don't confuse it with your mother's adult contemporary.

"We don't want to use the adult contemporary label as defined by radio," Verve Music Group president/CEO Ron Goldstein says.

For Goldstein, adult contemporary refers to a college-age-plus audience that buys a great variety of music, whether it be Buena Vista Social Club and Josh Groban or Diana Krall and Norah Jones.

The Brazilian Girls' diverse, left-of-center soundsâ€"equal parts Latin, dance/electronic, dub, jazz and popâ€"perfectly captures the spirit of this educated, Starbucks-sipping audience.

Also suiting this spirit are the label's other signings: blues rocker Susan Tedeschi; Old 97's lead singer Rhett Miller; former V2 artist Teddy Thompson; Sacramento, Calif.-based singer/songwriter Jackie Greene; and Italian singer Chiara Civello. (Civello's Russ Titelman-produced album, "Last Quarter Moon," also arrives Feb. 1.)

Indeed, during the last few years, this adult music market has grown in CD sales and radio spins. This has not been lost on Goldstein.

"Just look at the marketplace," he says. "On the jazz side, in light of declining sales over the last five years, we had to take another look at our approach."

Goldstein continues, "Today, it's not a big leap for some jazz artists to cross over into other markets. Look at Diana Krallâ€"not all of her success is from the jazz audience."

In addition to Krall, Verve has had crossover success with jazz-leaning releases by Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville, Lizz Wright and Jamie Cullumâ€"as well as the two "Verve Remixed" collections.

While Goldstein says the Verve Music Group will never lose sight of the jazz genre that put it on the map, he notes the importance of also moving beyond that into a wider range of music.

Enter the Brazilian Girls. According to Goldstein, when he signed the band, the first thought was to release its album on the Blue Thumb imprint (now inactive). "But the band wanted Verve," he notes. "So, Verve Forecast was born."

This pleased the multicultural Brazilian Girlsâ€"singer Sabina Sciubba, keyboardist Didi Gutman, bassist Jesse Murphy and drummer Aaron Johnstonâ€"whose members hail from Italy, Argentina and the United States.

"Forecast was such an important label in the '60s," Gutman says. Sciubba concurs, adding, "We had offers from other labels, but it's all become so hyper-inflated. We didn't see the need for a bidding war. We wanted a label that was enthusiastic about us and our music."

The four members of the Brazilian Girls befriended each other nearly two years ago at downtown New York club Nublu. Thus began their weekly Sunday-night live show at the venue, which continue when the band is in town.

Two months after forming, they recorded tracks like "Homme" and "Die Gedanken Sind Frei (Thoughts Are Free)," which appeared on the band's self-released EP and are included on "Brazilian Girls."

Copies of the EP began floating around the Verve officesâ€"and Goldstein took a liking to the band's seductive and provocative sound.

Toward the end of last year, to introduce the act, Verve Forecast released the album track "Lazy Lover" as a single. It is to be followed by "Don't Stop" in mid-February.

"Lazy Lover" was delivered to club DJs and a variety of radio formats, including smooth jazz, chillout, college and triple-A.

"Lazy Lover" also appeared on the 2004 compilation "Music to Make Love By," while "Homme" first appeared on Wax Poetic's 2003 album, "Nublu Sessions." Ultra Records released both discs.

"Lazy Lover" and "Homme" have been championed by Nic Harcourt, host of tastemaking radio show "Morning Becomes Eclectic" on KCRW Santa Monica/Los Angeles and its weekly syndicated show "Sounds Eclectic." "The fact that their sound is a bit different is what immediately attracted me to the Brazilian Girls," he says.

Harcourt, who believes this will be a "word-of-mouth" project, says he received "feedback straight away" from listeners who wanted to know more about the group. Last year, he invited the band to perform live on "Morning Becomes Eclectic."

This was followed by the Brazilian Girls performing at a kcrw.com event held during the CMJ confab in New York.

The act begins a 14-market tour Feb. 1, the day of the album's release. Cities include Los Angeles, New York and Miami, where the band will perform at a party held during the International Film Festival.

In March, the Girls will play at a KCRW showcase in Austin during the South by Southwest conference.

In April, the Brazilian Girls will go to Europe on a promotional tour. The act is scheduled to play numerous festivals in Europe and the United States this summer.

On the retail front, Verve Forecast has set up programs with Tower, Borders Books & Music, the Coalition of Independent Music Stores and Virgin Megastores, Verve Music Group senior VP/GM Nate Herr notes. The band played Jan. 20 at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square in New York for the retailer's nationwide tsunami fundraiser, "100 Acts of Supportâ€"The Concert for Tsunami Relief."

Front and center in this activity is the Brazilian Girls' music, which is an absolute group effort, Sciubba notes. In fact, she likens it to making love.

"If you make love with one person, it will affect your own love-making style," she says. "Some lovers bring out something better in you than others. It's the same with musiciansâ€"each one of us affects the other. Hopefully, others will like our musical love-making."

PHOTO (COLOR): The Brazilian Girls' debut album release dovetails with the relaunch of Verve Music Group's Forecast label.

PHOTO (COLOR): BRAZILIAN GIRLS: NOT YOUR MOTHER'S ADULT CONTEMPORARY BAND

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By Michael Paoletta