Masha Campagne - Alegre Menina

World Jazz

A Classical Cellist Turned Vocalist Finds Her Voice in Brazilian Jazz, With Grace, If Not Daring.

Once a classical cellist, Masha Campagne has transitioned to the role of vocalist with an album of Brazilian jazz that feels as though it was lifted straight from the 1950s, albeit with a modern polish and a studio sheen that makes it especially well-suited for background listening. It’s smooth, elegant, and impeccably produced. Perhaps a little too impeccable.

The album follows the rulebook of traditional Brazilian jazz so faithfully that it struggles to assert its own identity. There are no jagged edges, no unexpected turns, no risk.

That’s both its strength and its shortfall. When an artist from outside a genre’s cultural origins approaches the form with reverence, the result can be beautiful, but rarely groundbreaking. In Campagne’s case, her deep admiration for Brazilian jazz is clear, but the album’s initial tracks seem hesitant, as if seeking permission to truly explore the emotional territory they evoke.

Campagne’s own story, however, adds intriguing depth to this seemingly orthodox release. Her musical journey began at the prestigious Gnessin State Musical College in Russia, where she trained in classical cello and piano. Her grandfather, Matvey Fayans, a renowned wind instrumentalist, was her earliest conduit to jazz and Brazilian music. Despite the severe cultural constraints of the Soviet Union, Fayans defied the regime’s artistic limitations. “My grandfather was a real jazz musician, and something of a rebel,” Campagne recalls. “He defied the communist system in the 1950s by playing what they called ‘bourgeois American music.’ His boldness and deep love of jazz embodied the spirit of freedom that shaped the artist I am today.”

This legacy clearly informs her current project, which she frames as a transcontinental collaboration, drawing together top-tier talent from both Brazil and the United States. “This project was conceived as a collaboration,” she explains. “It brings together exceptional musicians from both countries.” Among them are acclaimed figures such as Lula Galvão, Rafael Barata, Ricardo Peixoto, and Frank Martin, all instrumental in shaping the album’s refined aesthetic.

For listeners familiar only with the Americanized version of Brazilian jazz, especially that introduced between the late ’50s and late ’60s through iconic collaborations like those between Stan Getz and João Gilberto, this album will feel comfortably familiar. But therein lies the challenge, it offers homage rather than innovation.

What sets this album apart, however, is its subtle American twist on Brazilian groove. Unlike the languid phrasing of Astrud Gilberto, Campagne’s approach carries a more structured, almost upright American cadence. This gives the music a slightly different feel, less languorous, more deliberate. It takes a few tracks to adjust. The first truly expressive moment doesn’t arrive until the fourth song, when Campagne finally seems to shed the stylistic corset and step into her own interpretive freedom.

Vocally, she brings a finely honed instrument to the table: clear, controlled, and emotionally aware. That she chooses to sing in Portuguese, and does so with grace and respect for the language’s musicality, is no small feat for an American artist. It’s this cross-cultural commitment, this effort to inhabit a tradition not her own, that ultimately redeems the album’s restraint.

For those willing to listen beyond the polished surface, Campagne’s album offers a quiet revelation: a story of heritage, rebellion, and the long arc of artistic discovery. It may not revolutionize the genre, but it honors it with integrity—and that, in a musical landscape so often driven by novelty, is worth celebrating.

Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News

PARIS-MOVE, May 7th 2025

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