Bebel Gilberto, fortunate daughter of bossa legend João Gilberto and singer Miúcha (she’s also Chico Buarque’s niece), has carved out one of the bigger Brazilian footholds in the American popular consciousness, largely due to her bilingual productions (she was born in New York City, and speaks and writes fluently in English and Portuguese) and her willingness to fuse groove sounds with more traditional bossa nova fare. Her lounge recordings are solid enough – it’s always nice to hear tracks from the Tropicalia canon at a club – but she’s at her strongest when she pares her natural singer-songwriter chops with good old fashioned samba. Her cover of the landmark 1972 Novos Baianos song “Acabou Chorare,” (“Just Cry”) featured on the benefit album Red Hot + Rio 2, is touching – she even works in a touch of old Joni Mitchell. The guitar at the 3:10 mark brings up memories of listening to Court and Spark during my senior year of college.

Acabou Chorare by Bebel Gilberto

Speaking of Joni Mitchell, it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that Bebel’s sound is reminiscent of her earlier works; Bebel did end up covering one of her songs. This demo version of Joni’s “Blue Motel Room” was recorded in a hotel room during a recent tour. I detect a touch of Tom Waits in her version, in addition to the expected old samba feel.

Blue Motel Room by Bebel Gilberto