Momento [Digipak]

Performer: Bebel Gilberto
Engineer: Didi Gutman; EduCosta; Jason Corsaro; Antoine Midani; Sean McGhee; Berna Ceppas; Brian Montgomery
Producer: Didi Gutman; Guy Sigsworth; Masa Shimizu; Sabina Sciubba; Bebel Gilberto; Beco Dranoff; Berna Ceppas
Distributor: Fontana Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Bebel Gilberto (vocals, background vocals); Sabina Sciubba (vocals, charango, background vocals); Thalma de Freitas (vocals, background vocals); Didi Gutman (guitar, keyboards, programming, background vocals); Celso Fonseca (acoustic guitar, steel guitar); Guy Sigsworth (acoustic guitar, programming); Masa Shimizu, Pedro Baby (acoustic guitar); Nelson Jacobina, Bartolo, Pedro S� (electric guitar); Ian Burdge (cello); Jorge Continentino (flute, baritone saxophone); Felipe Pinaud (flute); Paulo Levi (alto flute, tenor saxophone); Z� Luis (alto flute); Bidu Cordeiro (trombone, bass trombone); Marlon Sette, Carlos Darci (trombone); Rubinho Jacobina (electric piano); Mauro Refosco (vibraphone, snare drum, congas, talking drum, agogo, cymbals, pandeiro, shaker, shekere, tambourine, triangle, caxixi, percussion, programming, background vocals); Berna Ceppas (vibraphone, guiro, sampler); Jorge Helder (electric bass); Aaron Johnston, Domenico Lancelotti (drums); Moreno Veloso (congas); Cezar Farias "Bodao" (bongos); Stephane San Juan (cowbells, maracas, timbales); Sean McGhee (programming); Rodrigo Amarante, B�co (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Jason Corsasro; Jason Corsaro; Andy Page; Sean McGhee. Recording information: Avatar Studios, New York, NY; Beauty Supply Studios, NY; Electric Lady Studios; Super Legal Studios, NY; The Barber Shop Studios, NJ. Editors: EduCosta; Berna Ceppas. Illustrators: Grillo Demo; Bebel Gilberto. Photographer: Philippe Kliot. Only Bebel Gilberto's third album in seven years, MOMENTO is an ideal fusion of the bossa nova sound popularized by her father, Joao Gilberto, with cool dancefloor electronica and sweet pop melodies. In contrast to the trance-like, downtempo sound of her debut album, TANTO TEMPO, and the more overtly Brazilian vibe of 2004's BEBEL GILBERTO, MOMENTO balances those two sides of Gilberto's musical personality and adds a previously hidden knack for catchy pop tunes. The overall effect of the chilly electronic beats, mellow acoustic guitars, and Gilberto's warm, inviting vocals (with lyrics in both Portuguese and English) is strongly reminiscent of the British duo Everything But the Girl, especially on Gilberto's overtly bossa nova-inspired take on Cole Porter's "Night and Day," which takes some cues from the duo's extremely similar arrangement of the tune. Another highlight is the pulsing dance-pop of "Bring Back the Love," which has the epic sweep of an early disco hit, thanks to guest stars the Brazilian Girls. Musically wide-ranging and uniformly memorable, MOMENTO is Bebel Gilberto's finest album yet. On her self-titled 2004 sophomore album, Bebel Gilberto ditched the loungey grooves she explored on her debut and stuck to mostly acoustic elements -- guitars, percussion, strings -- to complement her voice, but her next release, Momento, finds the singer returning to both electronica and more traditional bossa nova. Gilberto is still, of course, thoroughly modern, with a much more lush, produced sound than her predecessors had (including her father), but it works for her, the overall gentle ambiance she's trying to create, even when she's singing old favorites. In Chico Buarque's lovely "Ca�ada," she adds more bass to the underbelly of the song and lets the woodwinds play a bigger role, and the cover of Cole Porter's "Night and Day" comes off well, gentle, and with a jazzy tenor sax solo. In fact, it's when Gilberto stays simple, and looks more closely at her roots for inspiration, that she sounds the best. It's her ventures into the Rio lounge world that are less interesting, safe to a fault. Gilberto's unfortunately perfected the Brazilian version of smooth jazz or adult contemporary, shown all too clearly on songs like "Cad� Voc�" or "Bring Back the Love" (which features all four members from the non-Brazilian Brazilian Girls), with their programmed drums and keyboards layered behind her voice. It's too much, too clean, too pretty, sounding nice but nothing more. To be fair, the singer has never tried nor claimed to be cutting-edge, or to challenge her audience, but tracks like "Close to You" and "Momento" are so inoffensive they're hard to pay much attention to. It's very possible to be both memorable and smooth, remarkable and mild (and this is something Gilberto is capable of, like on the sparse "Um Segundo" or the mellow "Os Novos Yorkinos," for example), but more often than not, Momento ends up a shallow listen. This CD was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007 for Best Contemporary World Music Album. ~ Marisa Brown

CMJ (p.5) - "The album fuses bossa nova and samba with languid guitar lines to create a warm and hypnotic atmosphere." Down Beat (p.70) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "MOMENTO offers magic and mystery, expressed in the album's blurring of acoustic/electronic textures, and in the twilight urban mood that permeates every track." JazzTimes (p.113) - "Bebel's breathy dreaminess recalls the misty Astrud, but the Gilberto progeny explores wider musical horizons. Hers is a distinctly more pop-jazz sound..." Dirty Linen (p.74) - "[A] drifting cruise across sea and foam to an enchanted island of tranquility and undulating soft rhythms..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.104) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he fieriest, most obviously Brazilian efforts -- 'Tranquilo' and 'Cacada', with its forro drums and flutes -- are the stand-outs."

As the daughter of Joao Gilberto, one of the chief architects of the bossa nova sound, and the step-daughter of singer Astrud Gilberto, perhaps the genre's most recognizable voice, Bebel Gilberto is at the fore of the second generation of bossa nova talent. While Gilberto's music is firmly rooted in Brazil's proud musical tradition, it is also marked by tasteful electronica and club music flourishes. Her breezy, sophisticated, and critically lauded 2000 debut, TANTO TEMPO, was given the remix treatment by a host of dancefloor heavyweights in 2003.

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