Astrud Gilberto – I Haven’t Got Anything Better To Do (1969/2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Astrud Gilberto – I Haven’t Got Anything Better To Do (1969/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 28:38 minutes | 1,18 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Verve Reissues

As the 1960s drew to a close and the bossa nova craze had long faded, Astrud Gilberto was now squarely a jazz/easy listening artist, recording sparsely-arranged Burt Bacharach, Michel Legrand and Harry Nilsson numbers. Gilberto called this her “fireplace album” due to the intimacy of the performances and the stripped-down production.

With her tenure on Verve drawing to a close, Astrud Gilberto steps further away from her bossa nova roots with I Haven’t Got Anything Better to Do, an intimate, nocturnal set closer in scope and spirit to the Baroque pop of Burt Bacharach, whose “Trains and Boats and Planes” is beautifully rendered here. In the liner notes Gilberto dubs it “my fireplace album,” and indeed the record is immediately warm and comforting, despite the melancholy that colors all of the selections. Albert Gorgoni’s arrangements are sumptuously romantic, perfectly complementing the simple, poignant vocals. Mistakenly considered a minor entry in the Gilberto canon, I Haven’t Got Anything Better to Do is instead a minor masterpiece. Each song is ideally suited to her distinctive style and the disc as a whole maintains a consistency of mood and feeling largely unmatched in her catalog. – Jason Ankeny

Tracklist:

01. Astrud Gilberto – I Haven’t Got Anything Better To Do (No Tengo Nada Mejor…) (02:58)
02. Astrud Gilberto – Didn’t We (02:57)
03. Astrud Gilberto – Wailing Of The Willow (02:16)
04. Astrud Gilberto – Where’s The Love (02:21)
05. Astrud Gilberto – The Sea Is My Soil (03:28)
06. Astrud Gilberto – Trains And Boats And Planes (02:49)
07. Astrud Gilberto – World Stop Turning (02:18)
08. Astrud Gilberto – Without Him (04:35)
09. Astrud Gilberto – Wee Small Hours (02:17)
10. Astrud Gilberto – If (The Biggest Little World) (02:34)

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