Bebel Gilberto

Bebel Gilberto | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 8, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Six Degrees
• ASIN: B00024H2OG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,874 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With the release of her debut Tanto Tempo in 2000, the Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto and the late DJ Suba redefined the bossa nova sound. Her sophomore effort, produced by Marius de Vries, the soundmeister behind Madonna, Annie Lennox and Bjork, was recorded in Rio, Bahia, London and New York. Gilberto's cool contralto sings sweetly over synths, strings, percussion acoustic piano and horns. Daniel Jobim and Pedro Baby contributed compositions. Caetano Veloso's "Baby" features lyrics by Os Mutantes, and Carlinhos Brown's candomblé-cadenced, "Aganju" swings with a nod to Africa. Bebel's hushed vocals reveal the influences of her father, the legendary Joao Gilberto, and of her mother Miucha on the electro-bossa beats of "Winter." Ditto the ocean-breezed "O Caminho," with jazzy orchestrations and pianisms provided by Joao Donato. This disc aims for the ear rather than the hips, but don't be surprised if future remixes could flip that sonic script. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Intoxicating, November 16, 2004

By 

benjamin (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bebel Gilberto (Audio CD)

Every so often - about two or three times a year, really - I buy a CD that is so absolutely near perfection that I always have it with me in my CD wallet so I can listen to it. This is one of those CDs. Frankly, this is the best CD that I have bought so far this year.

I first ran across Bebel Gilberto a few years ago after her Tanto Tempo CD. That CD was a mix of bossa nova and electronica a la Suba's Sao Paolo Confessions, due no doubt to his hand in the production of that CD. I was expecting more of the same with this CD - by no means a bad thing! - and really looked forward to buying it when it was released.

This CD, however, is not Tanto Tempo II. Rather, it has a very organic feel with acoustic guitars, strings and woodwinds; there are elements of electronica in the mix, but they are pushed considerably far into the background. Furthermore, Gilberto's vocals, which are really just...perfect, are far more front-and-center on this album.

The result is downright intoxicating. Every note is so perfectly placed, every rhythm so perfectly played and every vocal track so perfectly laid that it is impossible to find a flaw. Twelve tracks simply aren't enough for this listener; I love to play this CD over and over again for hours on end.

In the end, it is like a simple thing that adds so much. There is charm in this music; there is charm in Gilberto's voice. The album takes apart all of your defenses and leaves you open in the most wonderful way; it makes you smile while listening to it because it makes you feel that good.

If this is indicative of Gilberto's talent, world music - truly world music, not bad global dance concoctions! - has a bright, beautifully shining star in its orbit. Buy the album, get a little intoxicated on it and remember that simple things can be the most enjoyable.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterful modern bossa nova album, July 26, 2004

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Bebel Gilberto (Audio CD)

Bebel Gilberto is the daughter of Brazilian bossa nova legend Joao Gilberto, and is a member of Brazil's pop music royalty. For several years in the 1980s and '90s she apprenticed as a musician while touring with her mother, the singer known as Miucha, as well as with her father and her uncle, songwriter Chico Buarque. Then, as the new century opened, Bebel became an international star in her own right with her (North American) debut album, the electronica-drenched Tanto Tempo, which knocked many folks back on their ears.

In the four years since then, Bebel has become an iconic figure in the clubby electro-bossa scene, but as remix disc piled on top of remix disc, many fans became impatient for new material. For those hoping Gilberto would delve deeper into her Brazilian roots and explore the elegance of the music that made her father a legend, this disc has exceeded all expectations. The album opens with an English-language version of Caetano Veloso's ironically bilingual lullaby-anthem, Baby, one of the standards of the early '70s tropicalia scene, and Gilberto ably teases out the song's gentle ironies, which were aimed not at this country or that, but at the very notion of cultural barriers. Gilberto's gentle version may actually prove to be the song's definitive interpretation, surpassing the Veloso original and the well-known versions by Gal Costa. From there, the album glides from one soft, stately song to another, a delicious, well measured bossa nova outing, with modulated, textured electronic ambience bringing a surprising warmth to the sound. Dance music fans will doubtless call foul, yearning for more beats and mixing -- folks who better appreciate the history of the style and the restraint that the original bossa nova pioneers brought to their art will recognize that Bebel has finally arrived as one of the fold, a master musician who can make her way in the world as she pleases. Am I gushing? Well, golly, I guess I am. That's because this is an absolutely lovely record, and the awkward moments of her last album are nowhere to be found on this one. It's a good'un... highly recommended!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bebel Gilberto has truly arrived...!, June 27, 2004

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Bebel Gilberto (Audio CD)

Bebel Gilberto is the daughter of Brazilian bossa nova legend Joao Gilberto, and is a member of Brazil's pop music royalty. For several years in the 1980s and '90s she apprenticed as a musician while touring with her mother, the singer known as Miucha, as well as with her father and her uncle, songwriter Chico Buarque, then, as the new century opened, Bebel became an international star in her own right with her (North American) debut album, the electronica-drenched "Tanto Tempo," which knocked many folks back on their ears.

In the four years since then, Bebel has become an iconic figure in the clubby electro-bossa scene, but as remix disc piled on remix disc, many fans became impatient for new material. For those hoping Gilberto would delve deeper into her Brazilian roots and explore the elegance of the music that made her father a legend, this disc has exceeded all our expectations. The album opens with an English-language version of Caetano Veloso's ironically bilingual "Baby," one of the standards of the early '70s tropicalia scene, and Gilberto ably teases out the song's gentle ironies, which were aimed not at this country or that, but at the very notion of cultural barriers. Gilberto's version may actually prove to be the song's definitive interpretation, surpassing the Veloso original and the well-known versions by Gal Costa. From there, the album glides from one soft, stately song to another, a delicious, well measured bossa nova outing, with modulated, textured electronic ambience bringing a surprising warmth to the sound. Dance music fans will doubtless call "foul," yearning for more beats and mixing -- folks who better appreciate the history of the style and the restraint that the original bossa nova pioneers brought to their art will recognize that Bebel has finally arrived and is one of the fold, an master musician who can make her way in the world as she pleases. Am I gushing? Well, golly, I guess I am. That's because this is an absolutely lovely record, and the awkward moments of her last album are nowhere to be found on this one. It's a good'un... highly recommended!