Natalie Cressman & Ian Faquini

Album: AUBURN WHISPER
Street Date: April 15th, 2022
Label: GroundUP!

Auburn Whisper—the latest album from trombonist, singer, and songwriter Natalie Cressman and guitarist, composer, and vocalist Ian Faquini—not only serves as a testament to the couple’s symbiotic musical partnership but also to their resilience during unprecedented times. Written and recorded in 2020, Auburn Whisper finds the two artists blending traditional Brazilian rhythms with modern, expansive arrangements—reflecting on people and places they miss while discovering joy within the present moment.

The first single, “Afoxé Pra Oxum”, was released in late January. Watch the video here. On March 4, the second single, the title track, will be released on all platforms, along with an accompanying music video.

Some might say that Cressman and Faquini were destined to meet in the majestic redwood forests of Cazadero, CA. There, musicians from around the world gather annually for Brazil Camp—a week-long retreat that offers masterclasses from the South American country’s greatest talents. As children, Cressman and Faquini accompanied their parents to the camp, where they unknowingly played their first notes together at seven and eight years old, respectively.

Raised in the Bay Area, Cressman was surrounded by music. Her father, Jeff Cressman, is a renowned trombonist, producer, and engineer, while her mother, Sandy Cressman, is a jazz singer and passionate interpreter of Brazilian music. Faquini, meanwhile, was born in Brazil and relocated to Northern California when he was eight. As a young guitarist, his interests were centered firmly on rock music. But that changed at 15 when he met the legendary composer and guitarist, Guinga, at Brazil Camp. “We hit it off immediately,” recalls Faquini of his mentor. “When I met Guinga, I switched my entire focus to Brazilian music.”

Over the next decade, the pair forged successful careers on either side of the country. In New York, Cressman became an accomplished trombonist and vocalist, recording a variety of solo projects, performing in Broadway pit orchestras, and building a following in the jam, funk, and jazz circuits with acts like the Trey Anastasio Band, Peter Apfelbaum, Big Gigantic, and Umphrey’s McGee. Remaining in the Bay Area, Faquini established himself as one of the region’s foremost guitarists and authorities on Brazilian music. In addition to releasing his own music, Faquini joined the faculty at Berkeley’s California Jazz Conservatory and became an in-demand collaborator—often working with Jeff and Sandy Cressman.

But it was Brazil Camp that would eventually unite the two musicians as adults. The title track of Auburn Whisper details those early days together in the forests of Northern California. “The magic and beauty of the redwoods just fit with those feelings of opening up to somebody, musically and romantically,” shares Cressman. The song also includes a nod to Guinga, who, years before, had a premonition that the duo would become involved.

Cressman and Faquini’s relationship flourished and, in 2019, they released Setting Rays of Summer. While they intended to spend much of the following year touring around the acclaimed album, the global pandemic changed their plans. Returning to California, the couple channeled their disappointment into songwriting. They settled into a comfortable routine, which included weekly recording sessions at Jeff Cressman’s home studio. The process, Cressman recalls, “was all very organic. Without any commitments or restraints, we were able to take the time we needed to realize these songs and bring them to life.”

That freedom also allowed the pair to take a more hands-on approach as producers and, for Cressman, to broaden her work as an arranger. “The arrangements took on a big role in the overall sound of the album,” notes Cressman, who typically writes the duo’s English lyrics, while Faquini composes the melodies. In contrast to the stripped-down, live tracking of Setting Rays of Summer, Auburn Whisper found the duo revisiting each song, building layers of lush, nuanced trombone and multidimensional vocal harmonies. “With the extra time, we were really able to pay attention to detail,” she adds. “Normally, it would have taken us years to write this music.”

Many of the songs on Auburn Whisper were influenced by the unique era that they were written in—and the rainbow of emotions that arose during lockdown. Threads of yearning and lament intertwine with joyful memories and introspective contemplation. “Segredo De Dadá,” for instance, finds Faquini longing to visit his grandmother (nicknamed “Dadá”) in Copacabana. When he sent the expressive song to Guinga, the composer felt his own sense of saudades for Brazil Camp, which was canceled amidst the pandemic. Inspired, Guinga added lyrics, conjuring surreal, juxtaposed imagery of Rio and Northern California. Similarly, the poignant “Rear Window” (named for the classic Hitchcock film), paints a scene of isolation and desire. At the other end of the spectrum, the dreamy “Already There”—which the couple dubs their “Pandemic Anthem”—is about accepting one’s current state of being and bravely facing the unknown.

Indigenous Brazilian folklore also permeates the album, thanks to Iara Ferreira—a frequent collaborator of Faquini’s, who wrote the majority of Auburn Whisper’s Portuguese lyrics. “Iara’s words just meld so beautifully with the music,” Cressman says with admiration. “She always ties in a really fitting meaning that goes with the vibe of the song.” Among several examples is the spritely opening track, “Afoxé pra Oxum,” which references Oxum—the goddess of rivers, waterfalls, and freshwater. Set to a foundational ijexá rhythm, the meditative track incorporates a traditional chant to the deity, who is also a symbol of fertility, beauty, and wealth.

“Brazilian music and culture is a mix of African, European, and indigenous traditions,” explains Faquini. “Indigenous words are part of Brazilian Portuguese and contribute to the rhythm of the language, so I’m always thinking about that when writing songs.” One particularly percussive vocal performance can be heard in “Curandeiro,” in which the duo sings about a healer who cares for the Mundukuru people of the Amazon. The song also marvels at human beings’ vital connection to nature—another prominent theme of Auburn Whisper. The bright “Benção de Iansá,” meanwhile, offers a blessing to Iansá, the goddess of winds, storms, lightning, and fire, who is frequently called upon to ease the pain of life’s difficult moments.

Reflecting on the turbulence of the pandemic, the duo certainly conjured their own inner strength—growing together as both artists and as a couple. “With the year that 2020 could have been, there was certainly a feeling of loss. But it ultimately gave us time to be creative—something that we rarely have when we’re touring,” shares Cressman. “Together, we were able to get back to the heart of why we really love music.”

Album: Setting Rays of Summer
Street Date: April 5th, 2019
Label: Cressman Music

Setting Rays of Summer is the new duo project from trombonist and singer-songwriter Natalie Cressman and Brazilian composer, guitarist and vocalist Ian Faquini. Drawing from impressionism, jazz, and the great Brazilian songwriting tradition, Setting Rays of Summer is a ten-track collection of original material featuring compositions in three different languages: Portuguese, English and French. With the warm instrumentation of acoustic guitar and trombone alongside two-part vocal harmonies hugging the Brazilian-accented Portuguese, Cressman & Faquini weave their musical voices together to create a fully orchestrated sound befitting a much larger ensemble.

Cressman’s fifth album as a leader and Faquini’s third, Setting Rays of Summer is a uniquely intimate debut collaboration. Incorporating various rhythms from Brazil, including baião, samba, and ijexá, the album encompasses a vast spectrum of musical ground. The duo’s global take on music is largely expressed through the distinct compositional voice of Faquini, with occasional lyrics penned by Cressman. The album opens with “Terê” - a tune which takes its title from a woman of the same name. The song is a social outcry about the epidemic of violence against women, especially the economically disadvantaged women of the Brazilian communities known as favelas. Though the subject matter depicts strife and hardship, the rhythm is upbeat - a duality often present in the samba tradition.

While “L'aube” teams Faquini’s musicality with lyrics penned by Cressman in French, “Debandada” is an ijexá - a traditional Brazilian rhythm of African origin. Although rooted in Brazilian folkloric tradition the composition explores new harmonic and melodic paths. While the portuguese term, “debandada” usually refers to the migration of a flock of birds, here it represents animal’s need for escape from their rainforest habitat, due to man's destruction of their home. The title track is the first collaboration between the pair. The tune’s simple beauty reflects the influence of composers from Debussy to The Beatles. The lyrics follow the cadences of the melody with a pure narrative of two souls growing close as the seasons change.

Cressman and Faquini put this music forth with the hope that its honesty and intimacy resonates emotionally with their audiences. Exposing listeners to new stories and new styles of Brazilian music, Setting Rays of Summer is delivered with endearing simplicity which displays a fresh, individualistic sonic vision.

Possessing a voice as cool and crystalline, Natalie Cressman draws inspiration from a vast array of deep and powerful musical currents. While “her trombone is world-class”, according to Dave Good at the San Diego Reader, “her voice is an empathic entity that channels the ages”. Based in New York City, the trombonist and vocalist has spent the past eight years touring the jam band circuit as a horn player and singer with Phish's Trey Anastasio, while also performing with jazz greats Wycliffe Gordon, Nicholas Payton, Anat Cohen, and Peter Apfelbaum. Deeply versed in Latin jazz, post-bop, pop, and Brazilian music, she has released 3 albums under her own name as well 2016’s Etchings in Amber - a gorgeous duo album with guitarist Mike Bono. When she’s not performing her own music, Cressman can be found collaborating with some of the most revered figures in rock, funk, jazz and beyond which have included Carlos Santana, Aaron Neville, Dave Matthews, Phish, Big Gigantic, Escort, The Motet, and Umphrey's McGee.

As described by writer Andy Gilbert in SF Classical Voice, “Faquini writes astonishingly sophisticated Brazilian pop music in the omnivorous tradition known as MPB (música popular brasileira), which often draws heavily on jazz.” Born in Brasília and raised in Berkeley, Ian Faquini is a protégé of Guinga, the illustrious Brazilian guitarist and composer. Faquini was a member of the renowned Berkeley High School Jazz Program before going on to study at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley and, immediately after graduating, joined the faculty there. He has performed throughout Europe, Japan, Brazil and the United States, and has shared the stage and recording studio with such names as Guinga, Brad Mehldau, Chris Potter, Spok, Lee Konitz, Fleurine, among many others. Paul de Barros at the Seattle Times exudes, "Faquini is an uncannily masterful composer".

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