A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness [Bonus Tracks]

Performer: Astrud Gilberto
Artist: Joao Gilberto
Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder; Rudy Van Gelder
Producer: Creed Taylor; Joe Foster; Creed Taylor
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Astrud Gilberto (vocals); Walter Wanderley (piano, organ); Joao Gilberto (guitar); Jose Marino (bass); Claudio Slon (drums); Bobby Rosengarden (percussion). Personnel: Astrud Gilberto (vocals); Joao Gilberto (guitar); Nick Robbins, Joe Foster (synthesizer); Claudio Slon (drums); Bobby Rosengarden (percussion). Liner Note Authors: David Scott; Chuck Briefer. Recording information: A & R Recording, New York, NY. This 1966 session brought together the Brazilian-born pop singer with her fellow countryman, organist Walter Wanderly, who had already enjoyed an international hit with his recording of Marcos Valle's "Summer Samba (So Nice)." Here they reprise that breezy, infectious tune in a -brand new version, providing Gilberto with a chart hit of her own. Wanderly's bright, relentless organ sound predominates here, though things slow down enough on the piano-accompanied "A Certain Sadness" for Gilberto to turn in one of her characteristicaly wistful performances. There are some other moderately tempoed tracks, such as "Here's That Rainy Day" and the lovely "Tu Mi Delerio" (an all-too rare performance in Portuguese), but overall it's a pretty jaunty affair between two bossa nova hitmakers. This record has always been a bit of a disappointment, not because it isn't good but because given the personnel involved it isn't better than it actually is -- it's sort of the bossa nova equivalent of those various Chess Records "super-blues" mega-sessions between Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and whoever else on the roster was still standing in 1967-1968; or perhaps more accurately, the W.C. Fields/Mae West co-starring Western satire My Little Chickadee, in that the two masters of the double-entendre seldom seem to interact and, when they do, disappoint, even though the movie is fun. There are some places where Astrud Gilberto and Walter Wanderley seem to be on the same page and aware of each other's gifts and respective presence, as on "Nega Du Cabelo Duro," the second half of "Goodbye Sadness (Tristeza)," and the beautifully moody rendition of "Call Me," and the rest is a good representation of either artist's work, just a letdown from both of them. [The Japanese edition (and subsequent U.S. mini-LP format reissue) contains a pair of bonus tracks, "The Sadness of After" and "Who Needs Forever," that are better collaborations -- especially the latter, with a beautiful virtuoso instrumental break -- than much of what was on the original LP.] ~ Bruce Eder

Brazilian vocalist Astrud Gilberto was a key figure in the bossa nova movement that moved beyond Brazil to sweep the world in the early-to-mid 1960s. As a featured vocalist on the landmark 1963 GETZ/GILBERTO release by American jazz saxophonist Stan Getz and Astrud's then-husband, guitarist/singer Joao Gilberto, the young lady from Bahia took the music world by storm, especially on the huge hit "Girl From Ipanema," destined to become a standard. Influenced as much by American "cool jazz" as by the Brazilian composers like Antonio Carlos Jobim whose work she interpreted, Gilberto had a sultry, low-key style that stood out amid the overblown pop productions of the era, and her blend of pop, jazz, and Brazilian sounds helped sow the first seeds of what we now know as "world music."

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