Ivan Lins’ Musical Journey: From Disney to Playboy

Ivan Lins is not exactly one of the most familiar names in the opening day lineup of the Playboy Jazz Festival on June 12 at the Hollywood Bowl. He is, after all, on a bill that also includes such high-profile American jazz artists as Grover Washington Jr., Joshua Redman, Dianne Reeves and Hendricks & Ross.

But with the exception of Antonio Carlos Jobim, no Brazilian singer-composer is regarded with more affection and admiration in the jazz community. Lins’ song “Dinorah, Dinorah” was a high point of George Benson’s 1980 gold album, “Give Me the Night,” and he won a Grammy for the song “Velas” on Quincy Jones’ 1981 album, “The Dude.” Add to that his much-covered ballad “Love Dance” and prominent appearances on Lee Ritenour’s Grammy-winning “Harlequin” and the dozens of interpretations of his material by other jazz artists.

Lins, 54, vividly recalls his reaction when his songs were first recorded by Benson.

“I almost died,” he says, his voice pulsing with the emotion that so richly informs his singing. “I couldn’t believe it. I was a great fan. I used to listen to him so much when he was recording for Creed Taylor on CTI. And then, suddenly, George Benson records not one, but two songs of mine.”

Most jazz artists profess an attraction to the subtle complexities of the harmonic schemes that underlie Lins’ songs. But he sees his music in a somewhat different light.

“I think it’s the combination of melody with harmony,” he says. “When I start to write a song, I always start by singing it, because I like to tell a story in melody. And my hands on the piano, what they do is like music for a film, a score for the melody, for the story.

“I never studied music in school; everything I do is very intuitive. But I remember listening to orchestras like Henry Mancini and Billy May and Nelson Riddle, Stan Kenton--one of my favorite ones--and I loved that sound, that compact harmony. That’s the word, ‘compact’--putting the beauty in the chords. So to me, it’s like I’m underscoring the melody, with the melody going and the chords following.”

Curiously, it all began with Stephen Foster and Walt Disney songs. Special favorites of his music-loving father, they were played over and over again when Lins was very young.

“I’m very sure that my music comes from there,” he says. “And that’s why melody is so fundamental to me, because I became a fanatic about those Stephen Foster and Walt Disney songs; I listened to them every day for years.

“Then,” he adds with a chuckle, “there’s also the fact that my favorite reading is mystery novels, you know, with their unexpected story twists. So maybe that’s what I’m doing--writing songs the way Stephen Foster would if he wrote it today, but then putting in something that is very much of me. And that’s the twist, that’s the surprise.”

Lins will perform with his regular trio and an added guitarist at the Bowl. Some of the program will recapitulate his familiar numbers, but he also plans to add some new pieces, including a song called “Blue Angel” that he describes as “very Rio De Janeiro.” And in yet another of his unexpected “twists,” he’ll apply his uniquely passionate sound to a Brazilian rendering of “Time After Time,” a tune he describes as “one of my favorite Frank Sinatra songs.”

Festival Track: The Guinness Fleadh, a celebration of Celtic and pop music, kicks off Saturday in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The event, which takes place simultaneously on several stages, features Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Ben Harper, John Lee Hooker and others. Information: (415) 421-TIXS.

World Festival 99, which surfaces throughout the summer at the Hollywood Bowl, kicks off on June 26-27 with “Brazil Nights,” featuring Brazilian pop star Carlinhos Brown. Other scheduled events include “Tango & Romance” (July 11), “African Pulse” (July 25), “Roots, Rock and Rhythm” (Aug. 1), “Gypsy Passion” (Aug. 22), “Hallelujah” (Aug. 15) and “Tropical Heat” (Sept. 12). Information: (323) 850-2005.

The colorful Festival d’ete de Quebec--the Canadian city’s annual world music festival--concentrates primarily on artists from Canada and the Francophone countries. But this year’s event, which runs July 8-18 in locations throughout the city, also includes appearances by slide guitarist Bob Brozman, the McGarrigle Sisters, Cuba’s La Familia Valera Miranda and Finland’s Varttina. The real fun of the Quebec celebration, however, is the sheer quantity and variety of its performers, few of whom ever make it to the West Coast. Information: (888) 992-5200.