(Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Bebel Gilberto at Dakota: breezy and brief
The Brazilian brought sensuous warmth on a cold Minnesota night.
By jonbream
December 4, 2009 at 3:54PM
Bebel Gilberto. Photo by Henrique Gendre
By Jon Bream
Bebel Gilberto is musical royalty. Her father, Joao, was the godfather of bossa nova, and her mother, Miucha, a legendary Brazilian singer. Gilberto has been a star herself for two decades.So she was greeted by a full house Thursday at the Dakota Jazz Club on the first really cold night of the season.
Gilberto's one-night, one-set stand was warm, breezy and brief -- a scant 62 minutes. Last week in Boston, she played for 80 minutes. And her planned set list for the Dakota included several titles that weren't performed.
Still, there was enough to confirm her star qualities and her innovative instincts as a blender of traditional Brazilian sounds and modern electronica and dance grooves. She lit up the room with her smile, hip-shaking and friendliness. "This show is dedicated to all of you from Minneapolis except Prince," she said in her fractured English.
Some lyrics were in English, most in Portuguese and some songs offered both. There was a South American seductiveness to both her warm, gauzy voice and her cool, breezy sound. The electronic washes added to the dreaminess of "All in One," the title track of her current album. But it was the classics -- her dad's peppy "Bim Bom" (featuring Bebel dancing with a beaming smile) and Carmen Miranda's festive "Chica Chica Boom Chic" (featuring honking baritone saxophone) -- that brought sunshine to the Dakota.
At one point, Gilberto mentioned that she was deviating from her planned set list but it became awkward, she explained, because her new keyboardist John Roggie is from New York. "We all think in Portuguese except John," she said.
Nonetheless, Roggie and the rest of her veteran band -- guitarist Masa Shimizu, drummer Magrus Borges and flutist/saxophonist/guitarist Rodrigo Sha -- were splendid, providing the rhythmic tropical vibe for Gilberto's romantic Brazilian sounds.
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