Recorded by MTV Brasil in July 1997, Acústico (also available in ‘live concert’ DVD format) was the first of several ‘live’ projects for Costa, who has now settled comfortably into her role as Brazil’s top Diva. And while her voice may not carry all of the range she possessed back in her heyday ‘80s, her mastery of the material is unmatched and her ability to emote her stories through song remains a calling card.
Predictably, Acústico is a walk down memory lane, with Costa touching on many of the songs that not only define her career but also define some of MPB’s best moments: “Coração Vagabundo,” Dorival Caymmi (‘Só Louco’) and Ary Barroso (‘Camisa Amarela’ and ‘Aquarela do Brasil’). This inspired collection of 16 songs range from her first hit ‘Baby’ (transformed into a sleek bossa) to an irresistible Carmen Miranda-like cover of ‘Tico Tico.’ Along the way, she embraces songs from Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Paralamas’ Herbert Vianna (he joins her for a duet), Luis Melodia, Robert Carlos and Milton Nascimento.
The accompanying picture book makes you want to be there, and her performance makes you think you are. Some enchanted evening.
Other Voices:
New York Times:
Gal Costa is one of the world's most graceful singers, according to Jon Pareles of the New York Times. According to Mauro Dias of São Paulo, Brazil's very influential newspaper, O Estado, Gal Costa possesses the most pure and clean feminine Brazilian voice.
According to Pareles, Gal brings tender understanding to every line. Gal, one of the founders of the Tropicalismo movement in Brazil, has been firmly on top to the Brazilian record charts for the past thirty years. She and friend Maria Bethânia performed the songs of Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil while the latter were exiled in London during the dictatorship period of the late sixties and seventies. Gal was the muse of the late Brazilian hippie movement and standard-bearer of Tropicalismo.
Her show "Acústico" ("Unplugged") follows up her album of that name, which she recorded in a live concert for MTV Brazil. On it she revisits the best of her earlier songs of Tropicalismo, accompanied by a small band playing acoustically. This anthology "is such beautiful and rich material," she said. "And the way that I sing is very different thirty years later. The feeling is much deeper. To be a good singer you must always think about the words and what the words say," she said in fluent English. "I must identify with the song and find something in common with the lyrics of the song. I try to feel every word."
Cafe Luna:
Acústico MTV is a significant release in Gal Costa's career. It should please both Gal's fans and people unfamiliar with her work. She is not breaking any new ground here, but Acústico MTV proves what solid career Gal Costa has maintained throughout these years. She confidently thinks of herself as one of the top two performers in Brazilian music nowadays (the other being, she says, the incomparable Maria Bethânia). If you listen to Acústico MTV, you will simply have to agree with her.
