Destination Unknown

I’ll try to make this short. I’m not going to bother posting a long-winded introduction about Coffee and Bossa. If you don’t know what it is, you can head to the nearest records store to find a copy. They’re everywhere. Let me just summarize it in a few sentences.

Coffee and Bossa is one of the latest Bossa Nova compilation albums. While they’re locally made, the artists chosen for the compilation are the international, famed ones. And so far, out of the three that’s been released so far, each Coffee and Bossa focuses solely on ONE artist.

Now we’ve got that out of the way, let me state my purpose of this entry. After having spent some time with all three Coffee and Bossa albums, I’m going to give you an overview. Consider this a brief summary of what to expect if you ever decide to plunge your cash on getting at least one copy. I’m going to try making this as short as possible too.

The Chillout Sound of Astrud Gilberto
This is actually the first that has been released. Of course, what with many Divas getting into Bossa, it is appropriate enough to release Astrud Gilberto album that’s easy to reach (by the way, all Coffee and Bossa are relatively cheap), so that anyone who’s interested can revisit the Bossa Nova roots. While I do not necessarily agree that Astrud is the best reference for Bossa Nova music (I’d rather hand that distinction to Joao Gilberto), she is in fact primordial to this genre’s development.

So why don’t I think Astrud as the best reference? Unique as she may sound, there’s no hiding the fact that she’s received no prior musical training before her FIRST record, which was actually The Girl from Ipanema and Corcovado, both of which are made for Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto’s Getz/Gilberto album. Since then, she’s became one of the most popular artists of that time. But even then, when she had gone solo, she was facing many problems, especially with regards to coping with her limited vocal range. Eventually, she was able to, by creatively using her inimitable voice, create materials that sanction her among one of the Jazz pantheons. But there was a time when she sounded like a newbie karaoke singer. A successful Astrud Gilberto compilation has to try as much as possible to hide that.

There’s no doubt that this album is meant to be relaxing, and it succeeds very much at that. Especially great are Astrud’s songs from Getz Au Go Go, where she sings with Stan Getz on sax (and, Kenny Burrell on guitar!). However, I don’t think all the included songs are necessary. For one, there needn’t be 2 Girl from Ipanema’s, especially since in the LIVE version, Astrud Gilberto sounded so unenthused. The other Girl from Ipanema was also a questionable decision: why did they choose the version where Joao Gilberto is out of the music? Once I Loved isn’t any better. At the beginning of the song, I can clearly hear Astrud’s voice breaking, unable to sustain a high pitch for long. This kind of missteps do not happen often with all the other tracks of the album, but as a compilation, I had hoped that it would be perfect, where a couple of "meh" performances could have been excluded. Score: 3.5 out of 5

The Chillout Sound of Antonio Carlos Jobim
Next in line is, to no one’s surprise, Antonio Carlos Jobim. One can never overstate just how important Jobim is to the entire genre. He’s not only the father, but also the greatest composer, of Bossa Nova. So naturally, a compilation has to follow suit in keeping with Coffee and Bossa’s intent, which I guess is "to offer quality Bossa Nova music for an affordable price".

Unlike Astrud (this isn’t to undermine Astrud), Jobim had more musical trainings. He played the piano and the guitar, and he also sang. A man that doesn’t lack talent, Coffee and Bossa: Antonio Carlos Jobim holds promises to be even grander than Astrud’s.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Again, I question much of the track selections. Why on earth did the compliation have to include many of the songs from Getz/Gilberto? It’s kind of pointless because: 1. Any self-respecting Bossa Nova aficionados must have Getz/Gilberto; and 2. Jobim only provides the background for much of the songs in that album. It may be his composition, but I still think it’s pretty silly to be included in an album that should’ve focused solely on Jobim. Also, should Coffee and Bossa ever decides to release a Joao Gilberto compilation (which isn’t very unlikely), wouldn’t that mean that there would be overlaps?

Additionally, what’s the point of including two Waters of March, one of which has Elis Regina laughing around near the end of the track? I don’t think it’s very becoming of a compilation album to include TWO same tracks under different renditions. Then there’s Tide, which is Wave (also included) reversed and recycled. What’s the point of that?

With this many flaws (yes, those are more songs that in Astrud’s), I’m not sure I can recommend this particular compilation. All I can say is that you can only find much use to this compilation if you have not been an avid Antonio Carlos Jobim collector. I would recommend that you be a Jobim collector instead. Score: 3 out of 5

The Chillout Sound oF Flora Purim
I’m much delighted at their decision to compile Flora Purim’s works. After all, she’s nearly forgotten among the casual listeners community. I first heard of her in Light as a Feather, and thought Flora’s voice is one of the most flexible there ever is. Boasting a range of six octaves, when Flora’s voice gets high, it’s just simply, crystal-shattering, unbelievable.

While I’m aware that Flora Purim is also from Brazil, I’m not sure if she should be classified as Bossa Nova. She’s, after all, married to Airto Moreira, one of Brazilian fusion prime movers, and she’s been doing many gigs with her husband. So to be exact, most of her songs are more rock-ish or funky-ish than samba-ish.

Which is why I would say that even though her selections in the compilation are mostly great, some Bossa Nova compilations need not be included. To put these songs to strain that Flora’s a Bossa Artist was kind of unneccessary. And really, does all Coffee and Bossa need to have a Dindi? What for?

All said and done, Flora’s compilation is the best among the three, simply because it’s rather uncommon to find her other compilations, much unlike the remaining two. Exclude 3 subpar Bossa Nova songs, and you have a near-perfect compilation. Score: 4 out of 5

Final Words: The scores are made only to reflect my personal opinion for all of the compilations. All three of them are, in their own ways, worth checking, especially if you want to give the career of the featured artists an overview.

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