Astrud Gilberto "Astrud Gilberto's Finest Hour" (2001)

Astrud Gilberto's Finest Hour (compilation)
release date: May 15, 2001
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

A best of compilation album by Astrud Gilberto. The album consists of 20 tracks, and it comprises her best bossa nova and vocal jazz performances including her works with Walter Wanderley Trio, Stan Getz, (husband) Joaõ Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, as well as her better tracks into standards and easy listening.
This is a fine collection.
[ allmusic.com 5 / 5 stars ]

Astrud Gilberto "Beach Samba" (1967)

Beach Samba
release date: 1967
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "Stay" (4 / 5) - 2. "Misty Roses" - 3. "The Face I Love" - 4. "A Banda (Parade)" - 5. "Oba, oba" - 6. "Canoeiro" - 7. "I Had the Craziest Dream" - 8. "Bossa na praia (Beach Samba)" - 9. "My Foolish Heart" - 10. "Dia das Rosas (I Think of You)" - 11. "You Didn't Have Be So Nice" - 12. "Não bate o coroção"

5th studio album by Astrud Gilberto is a more of a pop and standards-styled album. This is better than her first attempt with the standards, her second album, The Shadow of Your Smile (1965). Primarily, she succeeds better because on this album the pop songs are more easy listening tracks that do not demand a voluminous voice like her best albums with bossa nova vocal jazz. An enhanced re-issue was released in 1993 with 17 tracks. The album is included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Astrud Gilberto "Look to the Rainbow" (1966)

Look to the Rainbow
release date: 1966
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "Berimbau" - 2. "Once Upon a Summertime" - 3. "Felicidade" - 4. "I Will Wait for You (Love Theme From Umbrellas of Cherbourg)" - 5. "Frevo" - 6. "Maria Quiet (Maria Moita)" - 7. "Look to the Rainbow" - 8. "Bim Bom" - 9. "Lugar bonito (Pretty Place)" - 10. "E preciso aprender a ser so (Learn to Live Alone)" - 11. "She's a Carioca"

4th studio album by Astrud Gilberto (including the collaboration album Astrud Gilberto & Walter Wanderley, also 1966). This is my favorite Astrud Gilberto album. The highly praised debut is in my mind more of an expansion of her vocal jazz and bossa nova music with Getz / Gilberto (1963), but this is more herself. She has turned back to her speciality: the Brazilian bossa nova styled compositions with her quiet fragile vocal guiding the listener through the tracks. There's still a few standards on this album but not the vocal demanding ones as she tried on her second album. She doesn't have the big singing voice but she has a fine jazz understanding which really comes through on this.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

1966 Favourite releases: 1. Otis Redding Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul - 2. Dexter Gordon Gettin' Around' - 3. Astrud Gilberto Look to the Rainbow

Astrud Gilberto "The Shadow of Your Smile" (1965)

The Shadow of Your Smile
release date: Oct. 21, 1965
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "The Shadow of Your Smile" - 2. "(Take Me To) Aruanda" (4 / 5) - 3. "Manhã de Carnaval" (3,5 / 5) - 4. "Fly Me to the Moon" - 5. "The Gentle Rain" - 6. "Non-Stop to Brazil" - 7. "O Ganso" - 8. "Who Can I Turn To? (When Nobody Needs Me)" - 9. "Day by Day" - 10. "Tristeza (Goodbye Sadness)" - 11. "Funny World"

2nd studio album by Astrud Gilberto. This is an attempt to expand her repertoire with (American) standards, and it's a bland experience. She still succeeds best with her narrow instrument and voice on the bossa nova tracks like "Aruanda".
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5 stars ]

Astrud Gilberto "The Astrud Gilberto Album" (1965)

The Astrud Gilberto Album [debut]
release date: May 1965
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Tracklist: 1. "Once I Loved" - 2. "Água de Beber" (feat. Antonio Carlos Jobim) - 3. "Meditation (I Will Wait for You)" - 4. "And Roses and Roses" - 5. "O Morro (Não tem Vez)" - 6. "How Insensitive" - 7. "Dindi" - 8. "Photograph" - 9. "Dreamer" - 10. "Só tinha de ser com você" - 11. "All That's Left Is to Say Goodbye"

Studio debut album by Astrud Gilberto, who had become worldwide famous for her fragile latin English on the great Getz / Gilberto (1963) album featuring Stan Getz and Astrud's husband, João Gilberto for her participation on especially "The Girl from Ipanema", although, she was never part of the ensemble that stood behind the perhaps most important and best known album of bossa nova [Stan, well he just wouldn't have that...].
This is a strong debut thanks to Astrud but also Antonio Carlos Jobim. The style is very much the same as on the famous Getz / Gilberto album, which means bossa nova. Here just without the beauty of Stan's sax.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]