Rating:
Genre:
Latin
Release Date: 04/03/2007
The discount-priced compilation
20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Astrud Gilberto is a reasonable highlights disc drawn from
Gilberto's recordings for
Verve Records originally released between 1964 and 1967, her period of greatest visibility in the U.S. About the length of an old LP, the 12-track set of course includes
Gilberto's big novelty hit with
Stan Getz,
"The Girl from Ipanema," along with plenty of other
Brazilian pop of the era, including three more songs composed by
Antonio Carlos Jobim. The selection also illustrates
Gilberto's move into American
pop, with covers of such songs as
folk-rock singer/songwriter Tim Hardin's
"Misty Roses," the
traditional pop standard "Fly Me to the Moon," and the movie theme
"The Shadow of Your Smile." Gilberto's artless singing style is displayed best on the earlier tracks, but she maintains her charm throughout, making this a good, reasonably priced addition to the collection of any
jazz-pop fan who doesn't already own a similar disc.
~William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide