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All Music Guide:
Bossa nova vocalist Bebel Gilberto has partnered with such world-famous artists as Kenny G, David Byrne, Amon Tobin, Smoke City, the Thievery Corporation, Towa Tei, Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque, and João Gilberto. Gilberto has also enjoyed worldwide success as a songwriter with the international hits "Batucada" and "Technova."
Gilberto comes from a famous musical family in Brazil. Her father is João Gilberto, her mother is the singer Miúcha, and her uncle (Miúcha's brother) is Chico Buarque de Hollanda. She learned how to sing with Miúcha, and since she was a child, she was already participating in professional musicals like Saltimbancos and Pirlimpimpim. At seven, she experienced her recording debut on her mother's first solo album. Two years later, she performed together with her mother and Stan Getz at Carnegie Hall. In 1983, Gilberto shared an album with the singer Pedrinho Rodrigues (Um Certo Geraldo Pereira, Funarte). Nevertheless, she wisely managed her career, avoiding a hasty debut as a solo singer. She eventually made her solo debut with 1986's Bebel Gilberto, an album whose songs were written through collaborations with Brazilian pop/rock artists like Cazuza, Dé, and others.
In 1991, Gilberto moved to New York (where she was born) and began gigging in clubs, performing at the Lincoln Center, and working with David Byrne and Arto Lindsay, among others. That same year, she participated (together with Gal Costa, Naná Vasconcelos, and Laurie Anderson) in a tribute to Carmen Miranda, idealized by Arto Lindsay. She began participating in productions that targeted the dance music market with a Brazilian bossa nova flair, even co-writing the worldwide hit "Technova" with Deee-Lite's DJ/producer Towa Tei. She also appeared in singles by the Thievery Corporation ("Só Com Você") and the duo Arling & Cameron ("Sem Contenção"), and had relocated to England by the end of the '90s. In 1998, Gilberto had a duet with João Gilberto in his Carnegie Hall concert. Tanto Tempo arrived in 2000 on Ziriguiboom Records and fared well on the World Music charts, eventually winning two Latin Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Música Popular Brasileira Album in 2001. Its companion, Tanto Tempo Remixes, was also issued that same year, and Gilberto hooked up with producer Marius de Vries for her second album shortly thereafter. The introspective, self-titled effort appeared in mid-2004, followed three years later by Momento, which featured appearances from Brazilian Girls and Orquestra Imperial, and by All in One in 2009.
Wikipedia:
Bebel Gilberto (born Isabel Gilberto de Oliveira on May 12, 1966 in New York City) is a Brazilian popular singer often associated with bossa nova. She is the daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miúcha. Her uncle is singer/composer Chico Buarque. Gilberto has been performing since her youth in Rio de Janeiro.
Early life [edit]
Gilberto was born in New York City, New York to bossa nova pioneer João Gilberto and Brazilian singer Miúcha, who were briefly living in the city at the time of her birth. She often traveled with her father when he recorded albums in different countries; she lived in Mexico at age three and moved to Rio de Janeiro at age five. Gilberto's parents separated when she was seven, and she spent her time between Rio de Janeiro with her mother and New York with her father.
Gilberto recalls that her childhood was "music nonstop"; when reflecting on her father's influence, Gilberto states, "He taught me to be a perfectionist. But my mother taught me how to lose it. And you can hear it in my music today, I think." She grew acquainted with popular artists such as Caetano Veloso, David Byrne, and Stan Getz, who often visited her father's home to collaborate. She began singing with her mother at a young age and participated in professional musicals such as Saltimbancos and Pirlimpimpim. At the age of seven, she made her recording debut on her mother's first solo album, Miúcha & Antônio Carlos Jobim (1977). Two years later, she performed at Carnegie Hall with her mother and Stan Getz.
Career [edit]
Beginnings: 1986-1999 [edit]
Gilberto's professional solo debut came in 1986 with a self-titled EP released by WEA which included "Preciso dizer que te amo", a partnership with Cazuza, Dé, when both were in the Barão Vermelho band. In 1991, Gilberto moved to Manhattan, where she continues to live, but shares her time between the U.S. and Brazil.
Gilberto was a great friend of Cazuza and composed several songs with him in addition to "Eu preciso dizer que te amo", including "Amigos de Bar", "Mais Feliz", and "Mulher sem Razão".
Gilberto next participated in the project Red Hot + Rio, joining major music stars such as Everything but the Girl, Maxwell, George Michael, and others for the benefit CD recording. She also collaborated on Towa Tei's CD Future Listening!, singing on the hits "Technova" and "Batucada," and also participated in Peeping Tom with Mike Patton (former lead singer of Faith No More), singing "Caipirinha".
Tanto Tempo, Bebel Gilberto, and Momento: 2000-2007 [edit]
The release of Tanto Tempo, an electronic bossa nova album in 2000, was popular at clubs around the world and positioned Gilberto as one of the best-selling Brazilian artists in the U.S. since the 1960s. With her second album, Bebel Gilberto (2004), she refined her sound to create an acoustic lounge style that showcased her strengths as a Brazilian composer.
With Momento (2007), her third album in seven years, she wanted to do a fusion of both. Mixing the taste of Rio's Orquestra Imperial with the melting pot of New York's Brazilian Girls, and following the direction of the English producer Guy Sigsworth (Madonna's partner in "What It Feels Like for a Girl"), Momento reaffirms the international character of Gilberto.
All in One: 2009-present [edit]
Gilberto recorded her fourth studio album, All in One, in Jamaica, New York, and the Brazilian state of Bahia. It was released worldwide on September 29, 2009 on the American jazz label Verve, and was released in Brazil by Universal Music. It is the least electronic-infused of her albums, and brings to the forefront more of Gilberto's personality and love for organic styles. All in One had a team of accomplished producers including Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen), John King (Dust Brothers, Beck), Daniel Jobim, Carlinhos Brown, Didi Gutman (Brazilian Girls) and Mario Caldato Jr (Beastie Boys, Björk, Jack Johnson). Gilberto also provided the voice of the bird Eva in the animated film Rio (2011), an experience she called "amazing".
Since the launch of Tanto Tempo in 2000, she has sold over 2.5 million records and has been featured on seven film soundtracks including Next Stop Wonderland, Bubble, Closer and most recently 2010's Eat Pray Love and 2011's Rio; and seven TV series including Sex and the City, Six Feet Under, and Nip/Tuck.
In 2011, she contributed a track entitled "Acabou Chorare" to the Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album Red Hot+Rio 2. The album is a follow-up to the 1996 Red Hot+Rio. Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues.
