Bebel Gilberto
João
PIAS
Starting with releases such as 2000’s Tanto Tempo, hushed-baritone vocalist Bebel Gilberto sought to remake her bossa nova birthright—she being the daughter of guitarist-composer João Gilberto and the niece of singer Chico Buarque—as something cooler than the usual warmth of her family tree.
Holding the heat and sand of the romantic genre to the light, Tanto Tempo brought a cold, caustic wind to chillwave takes on her Brazilian heritage, making her almost as much of an innovator as her dad was in his time. Considering that the late “father of bossa nova” was her own father with whom she sang as a child, Bebel takes back her heritage in the fullest manner possible with her father’s hits and rarities, while retaining the spare, skeletal qualities of her best electronic-laced work.
With solidly soft and unhurried guitar arrangements from Guilherme Monteiro, tender-jazzy vocal moments such as “Ela é Carioca” and “Desafinado” remind the listener than Bebel is also the daughter of Miúcha, the São Paulo–raised siren of soulful samba who sang with the equally legendary Tom Jobim. Yet true poetry and familial celebration comes through on “Como São Lindos os Yogues (Waltz Bebel),” a sing-songy composition written by João for his daughter. As tracks penned by the master were a rarity in his time, the pointed poignancy of his dedication to his daughter radiates through every teary phrase of Bebel’s rendition.
