Customer Reviews

The Silver Collection - Astrud Gilberto

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The other reviewers are right on the money. This, along with A CERTAIN SMILE, A CERTAIN SADNESS with the Walt Wanderly Trio, is Astrud's best recording. The first twelve tracks or so are the sessions she cut with Jobim in 1965, of which "Aqua De Beber" is the masterpiece. There are also some interesting song selections that are pretty atypical for Astrud, including a nice version of "Who Can I Turn To?" BUT PLEASE, I BEG YOU, REMASTER THIS DAMN THING!!! Not only is the sound quality and separation totally erratic, but the first several seconds of "Dreamer" have been truncated off! Therefore, I have dropped it from five to four stars. For God's sake, the sticker on the back of mine says PRINTED IN WEST GERMANY!!! WEST!!!

This Astrud Gilberto collection is a good introduction for the casual listener. Most of her tunes worth listening to are included, but of course some charming gems have been excluded. (For instance, I wish "Oba, Oba" of the A. Gilberto LP Beach Samba were included. The music box sounds of this track make for an excellent embellishment.) As indicated by a previous reviewer, this album is in need of remastering. Perhaps if you listen to the album at a low volume you won't notice this problem too much! Regardless, The Silver Collection is the best Astrud Gilberto compilation available and is suggested for long-time fans (a way to have your most of your favorites in one place) and for new listeners as introductory material.

Astrud Gilberto's great claim to immortality is her contribution to the 'Getz/Gilberto' album that for one brief moment made bossa nova, that sad melodic jazz from scorching Brazil, the coolest music in the world. That album was in effect a mariage of four voices - the plangent, supple saxophone of Stan Getz; the song-writing and piano-playing melancholy of Antonio Carlos Jobim; the guitar-strumming and mysterious mumbling of Joao Gilberto; and his wife Astrud. Although, creatively, Astrud has often been under-rated, hers is the face and the distinctive sound of this album - her blank, flat singing, her unflappable cool in Portuguese and slight nervousness in English, were the necessary board on which the three men projected their individual eloquence. Some of her most famous Jobim interpretations are featured here, including the spry sadness of 'Once I Loved'; the lush despair of 'Agua De Beber'; and the bright reverie of 'O Morro (Nao Tom Vez). 'Insensatez' is her apotheosis, the emotion banished from her numb monotone revealed in the anguish of the music - listen for the scuttering flute on 'and now he's gone'.

This collection is instructive in showing how bossa nova quickly disintegrated from its fresh initial impulse into cynical elevator music. Compare the simple intricacy of Jobim's arrangements to the strings-saturated muzak of 'Non Stop To Brazil'. Nevertheless, the CD is full of goodies, oddities and surprises. Many of the songs bear traces of the contemporary European torch songs by the likes of Francoise Hardy and Michel Legrand - 'The Shadow Of Your Smile', 'All That's Left I To Say Goodbye', 'The Gentle Rain' and 'Who Can I Turn To? (When Nobody Loves Me)' are beautiful, aching examples. 'Fly Me To the Moon' is a moving bossa nova defamiliarising of a tired standard; 'Let Go (Canto de Ossanho)' seems to swap Brasil for Blackpool with its jaunty Hammond. There is, especially, one transcendent non-Jobim moment, the stark Luis Bonfa classic 'Manha De Carnaval', less than two munutes stretching out agonising desolation.

Gilberto have, in my opinion, the most beautiful voice in the world of jazz. Sometimes, its sweetness and naivity almost makes you cry. However, whoever produced this CD done a terrible job: The violins are way too loud, and sometimes overcome Gilberto herself! A good voice doesn't need anything but a piano, and maybe a background band, but not a violin. Even if you put it, put it in with taste. It's a great CD, but I'd remix it to lower and soften the violins, because Gilberto is more than enough and should be in the center.

Though the sound quality is a hair less than one might hope, this is the crown of any bossa nova collection. It includes the original "Astrud Gilberto Album", "Shadow of Your Smile" plus a few "bonus" cuts. After Getz/Gilberto where she achieved stardom (and was paid next to nothing) these were the first time Astrud was on her own but with the involvement of Jobim, Donato, Bonfa, et al. Her achingly sweet voice is a true wonder, and this is the cd that captures her at her greatest.

If you find yourself alone, having landed at the airport of a city in the middle of nowhere, and you're taking a taxi to your downtown hotel, and it's dusk or evening or late night, you will be happy to hear Astrud Gilberto's pure, clear voice playing out a mood of pretty melancholy and longing, just for you.

I LOVE ASTRUD'S VOCAL AND RHYTHMS. There is no one in comparison to Astrud's sensuous and slow-paced vocal. Awesome...simply put--this CD, as well as the others from the 60's, opens all invitations to Brazil and its charming and sensuous life on the beach and on the patio. This CD is so good that I own two copies of it. * * *

If you want a compact collection of the best works of Astrud, this is it. This album has been played zillions of times in many situations in my life. It is hard to find an album with so much talent and passions. Astrud has not only influenced the jazz world, but many rock artists such as Stereolab, Yo La Tengo, and Broadcast. If I could take an album in my afterlife, this would be a sure one!

Her first records are meticulously crafted and intimate, but Astrud livened up a little later on, once she shook off the reins of her jazz-giant husband. Here, she's tightly-controlled and just a little uncomfortable and shy. I prefer Astrud's output when she got more ballsy and had input with her song selections. Many of these songs were covered by a myriad of artists, including Claudine Longet(one might say Longet was the French version of Astrud Gilberto). I thoroughly enjoy Gilberto's shaky English and the spare, jingle-jangly production, but if you find these songs a little chilly, pick up one of her late-'60's CDs(like "With Stanley Turrentine")and you'll be surprised how warm and loose Gilberto eventually became in the studio. B-

I will not try to undermine any bit of this gem with my unimaginative praises! This is simply the best album that I have ever purchased and will remain to be my favorite. An evening cruise accompanied by "Non-Stop to Brazil" and gentle brushes of summer breeze -- there really isn't much in life that is more pleasant.