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 enlarge | Artist: Astrud Gilberto
Label: Umvd Labels
Category: Music
List Price: $11.98
Buy New: $6.48
You Save: $5.50 (46%)
New (40) Used (15) from $6.48
Rating:  40 reviews
Sales Rank: 3877
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 520790
UPC: 731452079022
EAN: 0731452079022
ASIN: B00005A7WY
Release Date: May 15, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 40
 For fans old and new April 2, 2006
Andrew Mendez (White Bear Lake, MN USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I discovered the music of Astrud Gilberto while searching for something decent to listen to on the radio. The result of my endeavor produced "The Girl From Ipanema" (Track 2), which made me a fan of Astrud Gilberto ever since. I learned later that songs like hers have been ambiguously termed 'adult standards' by the music industry. While the choice of genre name seems questionable, one cannot deny the musical virtuosity and 'complex simplicity' that is Astrud Gilberto.
Fans will recall the accidental beginning of Gilberto's career: the need of a vocalist to sing both Portuguese and English lyrics in the original release of "The Girl From Ipanema". As other reviewers have noted, the simplicity and clarity of Gilberto's voice provide a degree of warmth and tenderness in her music not otherwise noted within the works of her contemporaries.
This compilation of Gilberto's work includes tracks with both English and Portuguese lyrics. Note the emotional distinction between "It Might As Well Be Spring" (Track 9), a song filled with tender innocence, and "Photograph" (Track 8), in which Gilberto taps with ease a greater depth of emotion through the use of her first language. The difference is both stark and stirring, when the listener considers the range of which Gilberto is capable.
This compilation offers a fair representation of Astrud Gilberto's early recordings, although anyone who has had the privilege of seeing her in concert (I have had that honor twice) knows that she has since spread her musical talents in other directions. Nevertheless, the body of work Gilberto produced during the 1960s stands as a testament to a spectacular performer.
 You Take This In the Car, To Remind You Why You Cuddle To Her At Home June 5, 2006
BluesDuke (Huntington Beach, California)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Astrud Gilberto may be the most romantic singer Brazil has ever yielded up. She's certainly the most pleasing to hear, whether the setting is a small group or an orchestra, whether it's pure bossa or jazz-inclining pop with the subtle embellishments of her native country. Put her in front of a Stan Getz quartet, a Gil Evans orchestra, a Walter Wanderley organ trio, or even a James Last ensemble, and she evokes a faraway beach that is at once as accessible as the sun and as elusive as the perfect wave. Which is just about what she has been herself in her musical personality---at the moment you think she has reached forth to touch you, she fades back and away at the moment you reach forth to touch her back, as if the yearning she so often exposes requires so much more profound touch to satisfy that you envy without shame the one who wins her love.
Any hour of her music is worth having; this one---the production kinks notwithstanding---may be the best-rounded of her best-of sets, even if here, too, longtime fans can pick a cut that might have been excised in favour of another, "better" cut. (OK, here's my swap---I could have lived with ditching "Crickets Sing for Anamaria" in favour of "Agua de Beber" or, even better, her very dreamy reading of "O Morro Nao Vem Tez.") It's breathtaking to see a best-of collection that includes a version of "Fly Me to the Moon" that leaves any other female singer's reading light years behind. And one listen to her ethereal medley of doo-wop chestnuts "Come Softly to Me" and "Hushabye" and you may be tempted to retire your copies of the originals.
On the other hand, for those who kvetch about what's missing, think of it this way: This is the one you take in the car, to remind you of why you have her best albums, now that they're back in print (especially, for me anyway, "The Astrud Gilberto Album," "Look to the Rainbow," and "A Certain Smile/A Certain Sadness"), to hear at home (and your wife or girl friend will be more than happy to remind you)---especially if you live on or near enough to the ocean. If you don't, she'll bring the ocean to you...with its warmth and its mystery alike, even in the most mundane lyric, even in the most effortless sigh of her singular voice.
 From one who came empty handed and left giving alms... October 14, 2003
Jean-Jacques Rossatti (BRAZIL)
8 out of 52 found this review helpful
Well, first of all, we brazilians grow up listening to brazilian music (at least some of us...), so we know when something is fake or aimed at foreign markets, which is precisely the case of Mrs. Gilberto. I am not going to develop my view on this 'singer'- can't be bothered -, but just keep in mind that this 'singer' ended up recordind 'desafinado' (I think) with... GEORGE MICHAEL! - after all 'THE SHOW MUST GO ON', or should I instead say 'THE MONEYMAKER MUST GO ON'?SAD BUT TRUE: only americans could have dug (and you still do!!) this 'singer' - she is generally despised over here. ...
absolutely the best December 27, 2002
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
If you're a die-hard bossa nova fan, this CD is a must for your collection. Her legendary "The Girl From Ipanema" delights, but the CD is packed with other tracks that rival or even surpass, such as "The Face I Love" (my personal favorite), "Meditation", and "So Nice". You won't be disappointed.
Perfect !! March 10, 2003
King David (Hong Kong)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Astrud Gilberto is famous of her little-girl-like voice and the natural, true bossa nova feeling (some deliberate out of tune and out of beat). The rhythmic Samba plus the smoothing Jazz evokes a person to imagine a group of children dancing on the seashore under the sun. Relax and liberated from everyday pressure !Astrud definitely has a lot of excellent classic songs. It would be difficult to choose which songs are the best. But this collection, "Astrud Gilberto's Finest Hour", indeed prevails other compilations such as the silver collection. First, the cover photo is more elegant. Second, it contains some longer songs such as "girl from ipanema", "quiet nights of quiet stars", and "i'm nothing without you". Third, it is more cheerful, some sadder songs such as "all that's left to say is goodbye" and "only trust your heart" are not included. Well, these reasons may be not so compelling, but I really love all 20 songs in this CD. And I can say, I spent my money correctly !
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