Bebel Gilberto at the Esplanade

Bebel Gilberto's performance at the Esplanade last night was simply breathtaking. She appeared on stage while the band started playing the first tune and strutted to her table and chair, which was readily prepared with a white towel, a bottle of water and a glass of red wine. Apparently before the show started, the announcer apologised for the slight delay as they had to change the wine. Perhaps she's a bit fussy with what wine she drinks while performing. Hahaha.

Only Brazilian music practitioners like her are able to caress each note and word with such exquisite charm and smoothness. Bebel's music is soothing, lush and upbeat. There was nothing fancy about the stage and their clothes; just pure simplicity and pure bossa-nova; seductive, hypnotising and beautifully delivered throughout the night. Bebel was pitch-perfect; blending bossa nova, samba and electronica genres, without letting one overpower the other. Her rendition of Cole Porter's Night and Day was beautifully recasted into a unique bossa nova tune with slight jazzy hints.

She performed quite a number of tracks from her Tanto Tempo album. Since her new album has not debuted in Singapore, she didn't see a point to perform her new tracks, so instead she stuck to the ones her audience was familiar with, such as Samba De Banco, Tanto Tempo and Mais Feliz. Trying not to sound too much like the CD, she incorporated distinct bossa "clicks" and voice effects, leading each song to last for at least a good 5 minutes or so.

All in all, her performance was great and the band was fantastic. Everything was done perfectly and it really does make one wonder: Do performers EVER make mistakes? Well, I guess it does help when your dad is known as "the man who invented bossa nova".

Mental note to thyself: Buy Bebel Gilberto's new album - Momento.