Astrud Gilberto: Beach Samba [ELEMENTAL MUSIC]

Why you'll love it

This reissue presents Beach Samba in stereo in a special gatefold jacket. Creed Taylor produced it, Eumir Deodato and Don Sebesky arranged it, and it's included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

This edition

• Gatefold jacket
• Stereo

About the album

By 1967 Astrud Gilberto was a fully fledged international star, and Verve knew exactly what to do with her: put that cool, breathy voice in front of a New York studio band and pick songs from everywhere. Beach Samba was cut in New York over a few weeks in the early summer, with the bossa nova sunshine dialled up and the doors flung open to pop.

The arrangements, split between the Brazilian wizard Eumir Deodato and Don Sebesky, are light as a sea breeze. Tim Hardin's "Misty Roses" is the gorgeous centrepiece, "Parade" is her take on Chico Buarque's A Banda, and on Deodato's "Não Bate O Coração" she lets loose with a confident, sassy scat. Standards get the same gentle treatment, from "I Had the Craziest Dream" to "My Foolish Heart," and The Lovin' Spoonful's "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" sounds as if it had been written in Rio all along. Rudy Van Gelder and Brooks Arthur were among the engineers.

At under half an hour it's a brisk, breezy listen that rewards repeat plays. Short enough to flip in a coffee break, which is the sort of efficiency we greatly admire in a record.

Also at Kops: more Astrud Gilberto on vinyl · browse World

Tracklist

Listen

On Verve / Elemental Music (cat# 620951), a reissue of the 1967 album.