"Olha Que Coisa Mais Linda..."

Rato Records brings to you a collection of 28 sambas and bossa-novas in the jazzistic voice of Astrud Gilberto, one of the most international stars of the Brazilian music scene, known as "The Girl from Ipanema" and often referred to as The Queen of Bossa-Nova. Her music has become an interesting combination of the sensual rhythms of Brazil and American Pop and Jazz. Born in the Northeast of Brazil, in the state of Bahia, one of three sisters of a German father and a Brazilian mother, Astrud grew up in Rio de Janeiro. She immigrated to the United States in the early 1960s, where she resides since then. Essentially, these songs are selected from her first Verve’s five albums: “The Astrud Gilberto Album” (Verve V6 8608, recorded January 1965), “The Shadow Of Your Smile” (Verve V6 8629, recorded June 1965), “Look To The Rainbow” (Verve V6 8643, recorded December 1965), “A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness” (Verve V6 8673, recorded September 1966) and “Beach Samba” (Verve V6 8708, recorded June 1967). Only two tracks are outsiders: “The Girl From Ipanema”, taken from the album with Stan Getz, (1964) and “Let Go (Canto de Ossanha)”, from 1970.

ASTRUD GILBERTO: "Windy"

Original Released on LP Verve V6-8754 
(USA, 1968)

While assembled from seemingly disparate sessions arranged by Eumir Deodato, Don Sebesky, and Pat Williams, "Windy" nevertheless proves one of Astrud Gilberto's most consistent and sublime efforts, artfully straddling the division between Brazilian bossa nova and American sunshine pop. Credit the aforementioned arrangers for much of the LP's appeal - from a percolating rendition of the Association's title cut to a neo-classical reinvention of the Beatles' "In My Life," the songs possess a lithe, shimmering beauty that perfectly complements Gilberto's feathery vocals. Still, she can't quite skirt the cloying sweetness that undermines so many of her mid-period Verve LPs - son Marcelo, who first joined his mother on the previous "Beach Samba" for an excruciating duet version of the Lovin Spoonful's "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," resurfaces here for a reading of The Jungle Book's "The Bare Necessities," proving yet again that children should be seen and not heard. (Jason Ankeny in AllMusic)

ASTRUD Hasn't Anything Better To Do

Original released on LP Verve V6-8876

(US, April 1969)

With her tenure on Verve drawing to a close, Astrud Gilberto steps further away from her bossa nova roots with "I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do", an intimate, nocturnal set closer in scope and spirit to the Baroque pop of Burt Bacharach, whose "Trains and Boats and Planes" is beautifully rendered here. In the liner notes Gilberto dubs it "my fireplace album," and indeed the record is immediately warm and comforting, despite the melancholy that colors all of the selections. Albert Gorgoni's arrangements are sumptuously romantic, perfectly complementing the simple, poignant vocals. Mistakenly considered a minor entry in the Gilberto canon, "I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do" is instead a minor masterpiece. Each song is ideally suited to her distinctive style and the disc as a whole maintains a consistency of mood and feeling largely unmatched in her catalog. (Jason Ankeny in AllMusic)