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Bebel Gilberto: New York City, NY, July 21, 2012

By Ernest Barteldes
August 1, 2012
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Bebel Gilberto
Brazil Summerfest at Central Park Summerstage
July 21, 2012
New York, NY

As part of the 2012 edition of Brazil Summerfest, a New York city-wide event of contemporary Brazilian music, singer Bebel Gilberto took to the stage at Rumsey Playfield for the second time in her career, following a very eclectic performance by singer Criolo, making his US debut.

Backed by a solid quintet formed mostly by musicians from Forro in The Dark, Gilberto kicked off the proceedings with an up-tempo take on "Sem Conten??o," from Tanto Tempo (Six Degrees, 2000). The arrangement was quite different from the studio recording, focusing mostly on the percussive sounds of conguero Davi Vieira and drummer

Adriano Santos

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Adriano Santos. Gilberto kept the energy up and encouraged the audience to sing along with her scatting of "Farofa, Farofa," towards the end of the song. She followed that with "Simplesmente," a ballad from her 2004 follow-up, Bebel Gilberto (Six Degrees).

Though the set list mostly concentrated on her two first albums, there were a few surprises, such as a bossa take on

Stevie Wonder

vocals
b.1950

" data-original-title="" title="">Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" and a very personal rendition of "Barato Total," a Tropicalismo-era tune written by

Gilberto Gil

guitar
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Gilberto Gil, originally recorded by singer

Gal Costa

vocals
1946 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Gal Costa in the early '70s. The song was well-received, and she stated that the song was a personal favorite that she first heard when she was nine years old. There were precious few individual moments for the backing band, save for a brief saxophone solo from

Jorge Continentino

flute

" data-original-title="" title="">Jorge Continentino on

João Donato

piano
1934 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Jo?o Donato's "Bananeira" towards the end of the show, and emphasis on the percussion during

Carlinhos Brown

" data-original-title="" title="">Carlinhos Brown's "Aganj��."

Gilberto was in great form and showed great chemistry with her band and the audience. She finished the set with "Close Your Eyes," but surprisingly came back for a short encore—very unusual at Summerstage due to strict time constraints—featuring two bossas: "So Nice (Summer Samba)," with English lyrics; and Vinicius de Morais' early bossa-era song "Samba da Ben??o," co-written with guitarist

Baden Powell

guitar, acoustic
1937 - 2000

" data-original-title="" title="">Baden Powell.

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