I just bought this CD: ASTRUD GILBERTO. WOW! It’s one of the few non-celtic or non-folk CDs that I have bought in the past several years. I wanted to get the version of Girl From Ipanema that has both Portugese and English verses. This turned out to be one of those CDs where you buy it for one song and the whole darn thing is fantastic. What a singer! I’m sure a lot of y’all are already familiar with her but if not please give the sound clips a listen. I want to go to brazil and drink martinis or have a party just so I can play it for background music! 
I have most of this stuff on various CD’s that I’ve picked up over the years.
Anything with Stan Getz on it is always worth buying.
Really wonderful music - gotta love it.
Slan,
D.
That’s a classic album, and it gave Stan Getz’ career a huge lift. He deserved it, too.
You’d be drinking caipirinhas, though, not martinis.
Oh, and if you see anything with her ex-husband Joao Gilberto, it’s good stuff too. I was lucky to see him live when he came to Chicago, not long ago. He doesn’t gig much, but he is one of the true geniuses of the Bossanova.
Daughter Bebel isn’t terrible either, but not in the same class as Mom and Dad.
Yeah, with all the limes in it. I was thinking about that one but I didn’t know the name! I was hoping you’d chime in, Glauber. Thanks for the info about them.
Hmm, I’ve never heard of that drink, but after looking it up, it sounds quite good. Is it?
Tom
I wasn’t crazy about Bebel’s cd the first time I heard it…but after I listened to it for a while it really grew on me and I started to love it. I lost it last summer and I think I am going to have to go out and buy another one because I am seriously in Bebel withdrawal right now. I think she has a beautiful voice, far better than her Dad although I haven’t heard her Mom sing (her Mom’s not Astrud).
I love Joao and Astrud too, but Bebel definitely has her own style.
Justine
The voice reminds me of Caetan Velosa. Caetano is one of my favorites. It looks like I may need to give this one a try. The voice I heard was the sound clip on Ipanema and it sounded more like a him then a her.
Ron
When done right, it’s wonderful. You can use cachaça (Brazilian sugarcane rum) for the traditional taste, or vodka to make it lighter tasting. It’s good cold medicine too.
Glauber- is the Cachaca, (sorry, don’t know how to do the tilde thing on my keyboard), readily available in the U.S.? Also, the recipes I’ve seen have not indicated how much sugar to add. Is there a “proper” amount?
Thanks, Tom
Caetano is another genius. He was part of a movement called “Tropicália”, which was like a post-modernist damn-everything party in Brazilian music. You have to understand that in the late 60s, and 70s, Brazil was in the middle of the worst period of the military dictatorship. While the Bossanova people (nice well-behaved white middle-class intellectuals) stuck their heads in the sand and wrote beautiful but harmless songs about love, beach, little sailboats, etc, Caetano and his friends were blasting the whole traditional culture and morality of the dominant class. Other people in the group were: Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Maria Betânia, and by affinity, Chico Buarque, probably the most important composer and songwriter in modern Brazilian music.
I don’t know. There are probably sources, importers, that kind of stuff. Google probably helps. Vodka works well too, but i never tried rum, might work.
Sugar, as much as possible! Brazilians like sweet stuff. I’m not very good at preparing this, but the secret is in mashing the limes (which we call lemons) slowly with the sugar, and adding the booze slowly. You need to drink it soon, before the acids in the limes start breaking down and making it sour.
Sugar, as much as possible! Heh! Heh! Heh! I like that answer. Thanks
By all means, sure! I’ve nothing against her.
Bossanova isn’t about singing well. It was in part a reaction against the more traditional “operatic” kind of voice. Bossanova was a singer-songwriter movement, and most of the time these people were good writers but just so-so singers; most of the songs don’t require much voice. João Gilberto is responsible for much of the standard Bossanova repertory, the guitar stylings, etc. He is a true genius, although reportedly a curmudgeon who hates the limelight and has often antagonized his fans and refused to keep contracts.