By Derek Beres
When Bebel Gilberto discusses music, she enthusiastically gestures with her hands as if her voice can’t contain her excitement. It’s ironic, simply because that instrument says so much to the millions of people that bought her first two recordings, Tanto Tempo and Bebel Gilberto. With her latest release, Momento, the woman whose name has become synonymous with Brazilian music finally returns, once again slipping her sultry, breathy vocals over gently pulsing down-tempo beats.
“I’m forever living in the future, as it’s my favorite place to be,” she says, nursing a cup of coffee in her East Village, Manhattan apartment and explaining the title of her album, which translates to “in the moment.” “But there has to be a time when you say, ‘Let’s take care of this moment here.’ Live the moment and enjoy the moment completely. That’s what I’m doing.”
Gilberto comes from the Brazilian-music equivalent of the royal family: her father, Joao, is a bossa nova pioneer, and her mother, Miucha, is one of her country’s top singers. Since making her debut at the age of 7 on one of her mother’s recordings, Gilberto, who was born in New York but raised in Brazil, has developed into a solo star, a Latin Grammy nominee and a highly sought-after collaborator.
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