Review: Bebel Gilberto - Bebel Gilberto

Bebel Gilberto’s debut album proper ‘Tanto Tempo’ (her eponymous actual first release more than a decade earlier was an EP) arrived like a welcome cool summer breeze. Mixing acoustic bossa nova with the subtle electronics, lush soundscapes and drum loops of producer Suba, it was a huge hit that sold millions and launched Gilberto as an iconic figure on the club scene. Since then, having been rather ungainly dubbed ‘electro-bossa’, numerous remixes appeared and then flooded the music world, with fans desperate for a follow-up to repeat the successful formula.

Her self-titled follow-up however is not ‘Tanto Tempo 2’. Following producer Suba’s tragic death just before the release of both Gilberto’s and his own debut, a direct sequel could never really be made, the album being as much a part of Suba’s input as hers. In place of his great talent, Gilberto enlists the in-vogue currently man of the moment Marius De Vries - known more popularly for his work with Bjork and Madonna among many others. His approach is much different to that of Suba, opting for a more ‘organic’ and acoustic feel, stripping out most of the obvious electronics and putting in more strings and woodwinds.

Here English-language songs sit alongside the Portuguese, with lead track Caetano Veloso’s ‘Baby’ sung in English and nestling up there solidly with Gal Costa’s famous definitive version. ‘Simplesmente’ that follows inhabits the same atmosphere, with ‘Aganju’ picking up the pace, but the pace here overall never really gets above mid-level, and the sound itself never feels as ‘alive’ or vital as it should.

Dance fans therefore who enjoyed the more generous layering of electronica on the previous album will more than likely express displeasure at the distinctly back-to-basics feel of this recording, whereas more traditional bossa fans may perhaps find the style more their cup of tea.

There are though a few problems with this approach taken on ‘Bebel Gilberto’. Suba very much liked his subtle drum loops and washes, and De Vries equally likes his strings. His wall of strings sound works well too in places, adding a nice seductive edge to proceedings - but on too many of the numbers here, what could have been light, fresh and understated becomes overproduced and too slick, drowning the songs in a ‘sonic sludge’. Think Claus Ogerman on one of his Diana Krall production bad days.

Too many of the songs too have the same pace and tempo, which creates a monotony of sorts with the sameness on offer. The choice of also having an excess of breathy vocal efforts seems to be a deliberate attempt to echo Astrud Gilberto, which is both something that Bebel should definitely avoid and helps create that same feeling of sameness. Add that to the not so appealing choice of songs, and we have some very odd choices and poor judgement decisions made.

Gilberto’s ability to captivate with her sensual and deeply expressive voice remains, but at times it comes over as unnatural, processed as it is along with the processed strings. So oddly, despite the more acoustic recording, it feels less real and less emotive. Not that it’s all bad. ‘All Around’ and ‘River Song’ are strong tunes sung wonderfully that both sit alongside the best of ‘Tanto Tempo’ showing what Gilberto can really deliver. And ‘Jabuticaba’ is a sheer delight, with its innocent and almost endearing quality.

Unfortunately the core problem is that Bebel Gilberto, although a terrifically good singer, and a great songwriter, really needs a good co-pilot to fully hone and shape her promise. She and friend Suba understood what the other wanted and the album they made together was almost perfection. Marius De Vries on the other hand is a much more mainstream producer and by the sound of the record has attempted to pull his employer into the more commercial world. And the reality is, some of it works, some of it doesn’t. Ultimately its Gilberto’s mistake, her choice of songs lacking some good quality control, especially the bigger proportion of English-language numbers which suffer badly under the weight of some horrendously vapid lyrics.

This is in truth an album of some very good moments, but ‘Bebel Gilberto’ unfortunately oscilliates mostly between not-that-good and quite-good, occupying a largely bland middle-ground. It will certainly appeal to the dinner party crowd and those of us who want chilled background music when you can’t find the latest Café-Del-Mal set, but rather than impressive, the best you can say about ‘Bebel Gilberto’ is that it’s pleasant enough.

***

Review: Stan Getz - With Guest Artist Laurindo Almeida

Stan Getz, in the early 1960’s, was displaying a truly prodigious work rate; three weeks after recording the brilliant ‘Jazz Samba Encore’, and only two days before he would record the seminal and massive commercial hit ‘Getz/Gilberto’ (that would launch Astrud Gilberto and ‘The Girl From Ipanema onto the international stage), he was recording even more bossa nova sessions.  Possibly trying to keep the momentum going or stockpile the music for future release, producer Creed Taylor was getting in as many Brazillian musicians, and sessions for them, with the golden-boy of the moment Getz. Despite the speed of production though, Taylor and Getz managed to maintain an impressively strong and consistent quality of music throughout the whole commercial bossa nova period.

Continuing the practice of recruiting one star guitarist for one session, this time Getz was partnered with Laurindo Almeida, who served as the primary composer as well as the assigned rhythm and solo foil. Also present are a mix of American players, with Steve Kuhn on piano and George Duvivier on bass, and Brazillian musicians, with Edison Machado on drums and Luis Parga and Jose Paulo on percussion.

From the second Getz and Almeida jump in with ‘Minina Moca’ the party is in full swing with music that is impossible to listen to while sitting still, and doesn’t let up. All the performances on this album are top-rank, but no-one is showing off here, the music is one of great beauty and is totally relaxed, which just adds to its immense charm. Almeida doesn’t like to improvise, so his soloing sticks rigidly to the tunes, while Jobim’s ‘Outra Vez’ is a shining example of Getz using his musical freedom for effortless lyrical charm which contrasts nicely with his partner’s more anchored playing.

‘Samba da Sahra’ is the epitome of the enduring fresh appeal of this music, full of easy strumming and soft rhythm, while Getz adds sultry heat to everything he touches. ‘Maracatu-Too’, the album closer, even manages to shift the tempo and pace up higher and end the party on a high.

Almeida had first introduced Brazillian sounds to the jazz crowd years before, most notably with Bud Shank (check out the wonderful ‘Brazilliance’), and unfortunately history has seen fit to lower his profile than he deserves. At the time, this highly passionate and electric feeling recording went unreleased, for reasons that only people familiar with marketing phrases might understand. And when it finally got a release, it was relegated to status of ‘more Getz, from the vaults’. Nothing could be further from the truth though. Many sessions like these might have been made to cash in on the boom at the time, but not only did these two masterful players help create this boom, we should be grateful to them that they did record so much stunning and desirable music.

Possibly one of Getzs’ finest bossa recordings with a hugely under-rated guitarist and composer, this is top of the league music that deserves to be sought out. Treat yourself now and find out what the world missed the first time around.

****

Review: Bebel Gilberto - Momento

The first thing anyone who has paid even just minor attention to Bebel Gilberto since her stunning debut ‘Tanto Tempo’ will notice is the ever increasing number of English-language songs on her albums. A bid for commercial acceptance in the English dominated pop world, it doesn’t necessarily have to mean bad, but it is a decidedly worrisome trend. Although not quite as horrific as Entertainment Weekly’s frankly witless statement that she is ‘the Norah Jones of the [bossa nova] genre’.

The excellent ‘Tanto Tempo’ of course made her name with the perfect melding of bossa and electronica, and her eponymous second album marked a move to a more acoustic and orchestrated work. Much less successful, it made a nice lounge and chill album, but was certainly not as big a blip on the radar as the gorgeous debut - disappointingly then, album number three falls resolutely into the same bucket.

The title track that opens is basically relaxing beach music, but the pace gets up for ‘Bring Back The Love’, with it’s upbeat dance vibe and a little keyboard and synth work thrown in. ‘Close To You’ meanwhile goes for the romantic jugular, with a spare yet beautiful musical backdrop against Gilberto’s English and Portuguese lyrics. ‘Os Novos Yorkinos’ that follows is light and throwaway. Perfectly pleasant, you’d have forgotten it as soon as it’s over.

And that’s really how most of the album goes - some lively tracks, some swooningly romantic, some filler. ‘Cacada’ gets the hot samba going, whereas ‘Night And Day’, ‘Um Segundo’ and ‘Cade Voce’ gets some good guitar work in. Most of the rest though like ‘Words’ sounds underdeveloped, almost as though it was a throwaway afterthought. Tellingly most of the best songs are in her native Portuguese.

A good summer record, in truth it sits somewhere between the summery bossa-electronica of ‘Tanto Tempo’ and the over-orchestrated lounge of ‘Bebel Gilberto’. Fortunately it leans a little more to the debut in its production, but there is still too much in the way of lounge material and songs sung in English to appeal to the wider market - which is a shame as we know she is capable of so much more, and her voice in her native Portugese is one of the worlds most genuinely sensuous and beautiful. ‘Momento’ stands as a good album, in that is is more than just average, but it pales against what we all know she can really produce.

***

Review: Antonio Carlos Jobim - Stone Flower

A gifted and much lauded songwriter, Antonio Carlos Jobim’s recorded material under his own name also proved incredibly popular. After his well-known songs, now considered standards and covered by pretty much everyone in the western hemisphere, his twin albums ‘Wave’ and ‘Tide’ are his two big hits, being for the most part instrumental, but featuring every bit the feel and yearning melody you would associate with his more recognisable songs.

Sandwiched in-between these two classics is the oddly lesser-known ‘Stone Flower’ issued on the then newly formed Creed Taylor Independent record label – Taylor having been a big and highly respected producer with Verve. Where many would have heard his more famous work and then may have picked up ‘Wave’ or ‘Tide’, ‘Stone Flower’ even now remains a sadly slightly over-looked album.

Which is a shame, as ‘Stone Flower’ is arguably superior to both. The key to this lies largely in the arrangements - where the strings on ‘Wave’ were used to bring out the subtle and quiet romance of the melodies, ‘Stone Flower’ goes for a much fresher approach. Choosing to explore a darker side of bossa nova, the album is replete with enchanting melodies, but delivered in a more hauntingly languid and melancholic manner.

A recording of quality from start to finish, the Ary Barroso classic ‘Brazil’ stands out as a highlight, with its instantly catchy one-finger electric piano and bouncing rhythm. Featuring a strong vocal from Jobim, the song is transformed from an anthem into a floating and hypnotic sprawling epic. ‘Amparo’ too is a perfect display of Jobim’s composing abilities, and the title track itself is a driving and memorable tune with an arrangement providing the musical equivalent of a warm tropical breeze.

No-one could, or can, write bossa nova as well as Jobim, and for any who have dismissed the genre outright for being lightweight, ‘Stone Flower’ is valuable education. Featuring tight and intricate rhythms, the music is dark, enigmatic and intoxicating. A revelation for any who have a jaded view on bossa nova, and an essential item for anyone with even a passing enthusiasm for the music, ‘Stone Flower’ is simply a brilliant record of quiet and beautiful intensity.

*****

Review: Antonio Carlos Jobim - Tide

After the huge success of the largely instrumental ‘Wave’, Antonio Carlos Jobim three years later planned ‘Tide’ as a direct sequel. And though most of the songs are still Jobim originals and the title track again evokes a love of the sea, ‘Tide’ charms in an entirely different way.

The major change between ‘Wave’ and ‘Tide’ is the chosen arranger. In place of the earlier Claus Ogerman who pushed the more relaxed and sometimes melancholic Jobim, Eumir Deodato - he of the disco take of ‘Also Sprach Arathustra’, the theme from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ - gives a more jazz and energetic feel to the recordings.

An interesting instrumental version of ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ opens proceedings with slightly more bounce than one would expect from the laid-back classic, but the biggest success here is easily ‘Tema Jazz’, which offers a great showcase for the stellar flute and saxophone support from Joe Farrell, Hermeto Pascoal and Jerry Dodgion.

Best of all, Jobims guitar takes a much more background role, allowing his subtle one-finger piano playing to dominate more. The rhythm section, more driving than ‘Wave’, is guided as on the ealier album by the superb Ron Carter and Airto Moreira, creating a fully swinging Brazillian jazz. And it is this strong rhythmic sensibility that truly moves the music outside of the pure possa nova label.

‘Tide’ is a great album, a perfect companion piece to the wider-known ‘Wave’, and a must for any fan of the timeless music of Tom Jobim.

****

Review: Antonio Carlos Jobim - Wave

Antonio Carlos Jobim and his music defined the Bossa Nova movement of the 1950s and 60s. Almost everything he wrote would go on to become a standard, and every song would eventually be covered the whole world over. But as a musician and artist he displayed much more, his work showing subtle yet strong distinct melodies and unstoppable sophisticated harmonies. His work as a musician and recording artist in the late 60s and early 70s, most notably with producer Creed Taylor, produced a solid number of widely regarded masterworks, of which ‘Wave’ nestles comfortably at the top.

The title-track opens things, and along with the other most well known piece here, ‘Triste’, is instantly recognisable. On their original release they were immediate and popular hits - the other eight songs here however, though less well known, are no less deserving of your attention.

For the most part, the songs are in a medium tempo bossa nova rhtythm and manage to be both relaxed and assured, as well as hugely swinging. Apart from Jobims delicate and melodic piano, the other significant and notable presence here is the trombone, courtesy of the superb and yet strangely under-rated Urbie Green, dominating in particular ‘Look To The Sky’ and the excellent faster-paced closer ‘Captain Bacardi’.

Hugely catchy with a relaxed mood, only one track here comes with vocals. And while Jobim could never be classed as a great singer, he is a good singer of his own material, and ‘Lamento (No Morro)’ benefits greatly from his voice.

Antonio Carlos Jobim is, without argument, one of the most important composers of the twentieth century, and ‘Wave’ is one of his most important and popular recordings. Just let yourself be seduced by its warmth and soft melodic touch – a must have.

****

Review: Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - The Best Of Two Worlds

More than a decade after their hugely successful collaboration classic ‘Getz/Gilberto’, tenor saxophone supremo Stan Getz and guitarist and genre creator Joao Gilberto decided in 1976 to re-unite and re-ignite the magic. Taking the winning combination of Antonio Carlos Join’s music and the musical arrangements of Oscar Carlos Neves, they were poised to conquer the world a second time.

Unfortunately for the duo, the musical world in the late-seventies was a vastly different one, with the current trends of more electric-based music in the form of disco, rock and fusion dominating. As such, on its initial release, the disc was completely over-looked and eventually largely forgotten. This though, even more unfortunately, is not some long-lost masterpiece worthy of re-evaluation and long overdue for good notices. It is instead a crushing disappointment.

Joining the two legends are a strong and eclectic band, including drummers Billy Hart and Grady Tate, bassist Steve Swallow, pianist Albert Dailey. Brazilian percussionists Airto, Ray Armando And Ruben Bassini also appear in order to add some samba colour to proceedings. Astrud Gilberto notably does not re-appear for vocal duties, largely in part due to her and Getz’s well-known affair, and so this befalls singer Heliosa Buarque de Hollanda, otherwise known as Miucha. Alongside the more than capable band, we get typically wonderful Jobim compositions such as ‘Waters Of March’ and ‘Falsa Bahiana’.

And yet, it’s a total mess. Getz, who should rightly be remembered as ‘The Sound’, possessing one of the most beautiful tones on any instrument, here is in a total slump. His sound is awful and bordering on the obnoxious, badly recorded and ultimately horrifically produced; for some reason the producer choosing to make Getz four times as loud as anybody else. Worse still is Miucha’s singing. Where Astrud Gilberto had under-sung, pretty much breathing her words, her style had fit the relaxed vibe perfectly. By strong contrast her replacement here decides some ‘free’ and off-key vocalising is the way forward. Not only does it not fit with Join’s music, but it just sounds terrible.

Ultimately, it’s the slap-dash feel that scuppers the record. With most tracks sounding under-rehearsed and most likely first takes, the afore-mentioned ‘Falsa Baiana’ cuts in loudly after a saxophone introduction and reeks of a tape cut-and-paste. ‘Eu Ven Da Bahia’ even ends with a voice clearly say “…felt good out there” before being cut off, enhancing the suspicions that whoever was behind this recording decided to do it in the quickest time possible, with minimal effort on making this a polished listening experience. All the more surprising given that this record bears the name of one of the worlds best producers and editors, Teo Macero.

Sub-par on every level, there are some relative ‘high’ points - ‘Ligia’ allows Gilberto full reign, his singing and guitar both top-rate, and the version of ‘Double Rainbow’ here being the clear highlight, benefitting from a really very good performance by Miucha. Ultimately whatever saving graces there are here, are due purely to Joao Gilberto - his beautiful guitar playing on ‘Joao Marcello’ contrasting sharply with the under-whelming poor form that Getz displays.

If you’re a fan of Bossa Nova, Getz or Gilberto, then you may be interested in this album, but truly it is the worst example of all three. ‘The Best Of Two Worlds’ was over-looked on its initial release, and frankly it’s best to leave it that way. Bearing the hallmarks of a poorly planned, badly executed and hurried recording, it’s one for die-hard collectors only, with just Gilberto stepping up, but even he is still marred by the lacklustre production. Apparently hating the results, Gilberto is best served anywhere else, and it is interesting to note that his 1973 watermark ‘Joao Gilberto’ actually contains many of the same songs here, and they are all undoubtedly of better quality. Similarly for Getz, this decade as a whole was just not a good one, whereas his work from the fifties, sixties and mid-to-late eighties is largely of the highest standard.

Most likely, given the animosity between them, recorded with Getz and Gilberto in separate studios, in as quick a time as possible, and spliced together at a later date (just as badly as the cover photos), it certainly sounds like it too. A disappointing missed opportunity, this really is one album that should be scrubbed from history.

**