Brazilian Girls

Brazilian Girls arose from New York's East Village in the mid-2000s, fusing reggae, electronica, jazz, pop, and bossa nova to secure immediate critical notice. Keyboardist Didi Gutman, bassist Jesse Murphy, and drummer Aaron Johnston—all native New Yorkers—formed the core with multilingual singer Sabina Sciubba, the sole European transplant in the quartet. Born in Rome, Sciubba spent her childhood in Nice and Munich before relocating to Brooklyn. She first drew attention from record buyers with two jazz releases on the English audiophile label Naim: You Don't Know What Love Is, recorded with pianist Chris Anderson, and Meet Me in London, made with guitarist Antonio Forcione. She later recalled her introduction to the Brazilian Girls members as "love at first sight and it moved as fast as the Autobahn."

Their rapid ascent gained momentum through the playful downtown milieu orbiting the Nublu club, where kindred acts such as Wax Poetic and the Nublu Orchestra had already turned the venue into a favored destination for adventurous listeners by 2004. The quartet's loose, buoyant improvisations meshed naturally with that environment, soon earning them the Saturday night residency and enthusiastic coverage from East Village outlets. Murphy and Johnston had earlier appeared on John Zorn's 2003 album Voices in the Wilderness, while all four members contributed to Wax Poetic's The Nublu Sessions the same year. Verve took interest around this time, deeming the band suited to its more pop-oriented and progressive Verve Forecast imprint. The label issued the Lazy Lover EP in 2004, featuring the title track—a chillout room staple—in both its original form and a remix by the idiosyncratic house producer Herbert.

The self-titled debut album reached stores in early 2005. Heavy touring followed, including a set at the Disco Biscuits' annual Camp Bisco festival that introduced the group to new listeners in the jam-band circuit. Talk to La Bomb, the sophomore release, arrived in 2006. New York City, co-produced by Héctor Castillo and featuring appearances by Baaba Maal and Kenny Wollesen & the Himalayas, surfaced two years later and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Dance/Electronica Album.

Over the following decade the band alternated between activity and hiatus, prompting rumors of a breakup while occasionally resurfacing for isolated performances. Sciubba issued her solo album Toujours in 2014, refining her singular aesthetic into a more organic, guitar-driven style. Brazilian Girls resumed group work in 2016 with "The Critic," their first new recording since 2008. Spring 2018 finally brought the long-awaited fourth album, Let's Make Love, which retained the eclectic dance focus of earlier efforts while venturing into more conventional song-based pop.