Like
Nico
,
Astrud Gilberto
's everywoman voiced has always had a polarizing effect on critics and fans alike. While her take on
bossa nova
is less than reverent and decidedly lightweight, the warmth and approachability she brings to each performance is stunning.
Verve
's lovingly compiled -- and blissfully affordable --
Astrud Gilberto's Finest Hour
is as solid a collection of her heady mixture of
samba
jazz
and
pop
as you're likely to find. Twenty songs, including the classic
"Girl From Ipanema,"
wash in like waves from the warmest of oceans, carrying with them the soft, reverb-drenched soundtrack to summer. If the tropical heat of
"Berimbau,"
the lazy and lonely pulse of
Burt Bacharach
's
"Trains and Boats and Planes"
and the upbeat
swing
of
"Wish Me a Rainbow"
don't instantly take the drudgery of your day away, then consider yourself hopelessly bitter. Highly recommended. ~ James Christopher Monger