About Alexia Kauffman
Location: Washington, DC
Occupation:
Bio:
Posts: 1
More from this author
Just in time for summer Bebel Gilberto releases her forth solo album, Momento, and I breathe a sigh of relief. For those of you who haven’t had the serene pleasure of hearing Bebel Gilberto, her music is a breezy summer afternoon. While she was born and now lives in New York, she is a child of Brazil. She is the daughter of Brazilian Joao Gilberto, the 60s Bossa Nova/Jazz giant, and Brazilian/Italian singer Miucha, and niece of Brazilian Pop Star Chico Buarque. Though she may shy away from comparisons to her famous family, her musical heritage certainly shines through to her music. To her credit, she brings new life to it, combining downtempo dance beats, breezy melodies, mellow guitar, and sultry Portuguese and English vocals.
For her 2007 release Momento, Bebel collaborated with UK producer Guy Sigsworth (of the renowned Frou Frou), her friends Didi Gutman and Sabina Sciubba (from the un-Brazilian, NYC based band Brazilian Girls) and the Rio based Orquestra Imperial.
The opening, title track of Momento recalls her first album, Tanto Tempo, starting slow and melancholy, but quickly building into a dancy, dreamy meditation on loving and living in the moment. “Close To You” is another beauty, with strains of soulful cello weaving through Bebel’s breathy sighs. She brings the tempo up a bit for her ode to New York life “Os Novos Yorkinos,” (one of the tracks co-written by the Brazilian Girls) but comes right back down into her daydreamy rendition of Cole Porter’s “Night and Day”.
Throughout Momento she never strays away from the mellow, laid-back feeling of a summer day. This album transports you to a hammock by the beach; a grassy hill looking at the clouds; a café in the city; a convertible driving down a coastal highway. This is summer nostalgia, and just in time to make new summer memories.
Bebel Gilberto is currently on Summer tour of the U.S. and Canada. She will be making a special stop in Washington, DC on June 23rd to play with her friends/contemporaries the ultra-suave DC based Thievery Corporation, and Spanish renegade Manu Chau.
