On her current tour, New York-born Brazilian singer-songwriter Bebel Gilberto is going in a completely different direction. Instead of playing familiar hits and a few new tunes, she is doing the opposite: most of the tunes on her recent sets have included tunes from “Tudo,” an album that has yet to hit stores as of this writing.
This is clearly a risky gamble, since over the years her fans have expected to hear a set based around the best-liked songs from her previous discs–something she has obliged to do on previous shows. But I guess that this concept comes with having signed with a new label and putting together almost an entirely new band that includes a cellist and violinist alongside jazz veterans like Mauricio Zottarelli (drums), Marivaldo dos Santos (percussion) and longtime collaborator Masaharu Shimizu (guitar), who also co-penned many of her songs.
Although she tries to distance herself from the shadow of her father, bossa nova legend João Gilberto, you can see that (forgive the cliché) the apple does not fall far from the tree. She is a perfectionist who will stop the show in case something does not sound right, and she is up for improvised moments at any given time, often switching the set list to include unrehearsed songs if she feels that this is the right thing to do.
Also on the roster for the evening is the incomparable Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés, who appears alongside the Afro-Cuban Messengers. This is an evening not to be missed. (Ernest Barteldes)
July 30 at Ravinia, 200 Ravinia Park, Highland Park, (847)266-5100. 8pm. $22-$55. All ages.
For “Want” of a Change: A Preview of Rufus Wainwright at Ravinia Park Rufus Wainwright isn’t the first singer-songwriter to reinterpret earlier work through an orchestral lens. And much of Wainwright’s third and fourth albums, “Want One” and “Want Two”—whose twentieth anniversaries are the prompt for this new tour—is fully scored. But when Wainwright hits the Pavilion stage at Ravinia tonight, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will be behind him.
Brutal Finesse: A Preview of King Crimson at Ravinia There have been few new compositions from King Crimson these past two decades, but the live arrangements of songs from its catalog are often strikingly different than the recorded versions.
Ms. Maestro: Is Ravinia’s Marin Alsop in Line to Succeed Muti at the CSO? After thirteen seasons, Riccardo Muti took his last bow as music director in late June. July sees the CSO return to its summer home of the Ravinia Festival where Marin Alsop begins her third year as chief conductor…. It could be argued that the CSO would miss an extraordinary opportunity if they didn’t—or already haven’t—asked Alsop to be their next…
Cooling It: A Preview of Colleen Green at Cole’s Bar When Green strums power chords or chiming notes on top of her backing track, you might think you’re at Ramones karaoke night and Madonna is taking her turn.
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