Amazon.co.uk Review
Astrud Gilberto found fame with her contributions to 1964's classic
Getz/Gilberto album, which spawned an instant standard in the hit single "The Girl from Ipanema". From there, she went on to fill many LPs with her winningly hesitant, longing vocal style; this disc collects 25 tracks cut between 1965 and 1970 for Verve. Among them are early versions of a number of Brazilian standards by the likes of
Antonio Carlos Jobim ("How Insensitive", "Once I Loved") and
Luiz Bonfa ("The Gentle Rain", "Tristeza"). "Fly Me to the Moon" and the
Bricusse-Newley "Who Can I Turn To" fit the mood perfectly. Throughout, Gilberto is aided by lush, thoughtful arrangements, including one by
Gil Evans on "Berimbou". This entry in the Silver Collection series is an excellent introduction to one of Brazilian pop's most emblematic voices. --
Rickey Wright
CD Description
THE SILVER COLLECTION, released in Germany in the mid-'80s,may be the first of the many CD compilations of the '60s work of Brazilian bossa nova song stylist Astrud Gilberto. It is still one of the best. While the collection does not include her classic first recording with the Stan Getz Quartet, "The Girl From Ipanema"-the song that introduced bossa nova to a worldwide audience-THE SILVER COLLECTION is an excellent introduction to the magic of Astrud Gilberto.
With her simultaneously childlike and alluring voice and vibrato-less"desafinado" (deliberately slightly off-pitch) singing style, Gilberto is one of the most unique and unforgettable singers in the history of jazz. Split evenly between Portuguese-language sambas, many written by the great Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, and bossa nova-style interpretationsof such jazz standards and pop tunes as "The Shadow Of YourSmile" and "Dreamer", all 25 tracks on this hour-long CD are '60s jazz-pop classics.