Baby do Brasil at City Winery New York

Baby do Brasil
City Winery
New York, NY
September 23, 2023

Backed by a six-piece band (guitars, drums, percussion and keyboards), Baby do Brasil (formerly known as Baby Consuelo) took to the stage showcasing a collection of hits from her five-decade career, including her time as a member of the legendary band Novos Baianos, which was discovered by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil during the late '60s.

Among the highlights of the evening was her very personal rendition of "Mania de Voce," a tribute to the late Brazilian "queen of rock and roll" Rita Lee, whose lyrics openly deal with the intimacy of a couple in bed (a born-again Christian, do Brasil was emphatic about the fact that she and her co-writer Roberto de Carvalho were part of a longtime marriage).

She also showcased her improvisational chops with a straight-ahead jazz-tinged version of "Conceicao," a standard from her native country made famous by Cauby Peixoto in the '50s, which also allowed her band to do some individual work.

The most memorable part of the show was when she led the band into a mini-history of Brazilian music, starting off with a reinvention of Bob Marley's "Is This Love" as a Xote, a syncopated beat that originated in the northeast of Brazil, and then switched to baiao (best known as forro Stateside) and then switched to her best-known hit "Menino do Rio," written by Caetano Veloso. Halfway through the song, she handed the microphone to a member of the audience, who turned out to be her daughter Zabele, a pop singer in her own right who led the audience into a sing-along session.

Do Brasil also remembered her days with Os Novos Baianos with renditions of "A Menina Danca" and the band's top-charting hit "Brasil Pandeiro," the latter being an open criticism of Brazilians embracing American rhythms to the detriment of their own beats. Written by Assis Valente and originally recorded by samba group Anjos do Inferno in 1941, it had been mostly forgotten in Brazil until the band featured it in their landmark Acabou Chorare album (Som Livre, 1972) under the advice of their mentor Joao Gilberto. The tune ultimately went on to become one of their signature songs.

She closed the set with "Masculino e Feminino," a song she penned in partnership with her then-husband and former Novos Baianos band mate Pepeu Gomes that deals with the ambiguities of being a man while also recognizing one's feminine side. It is a funky tune with a '70s-inspired bass line and a very danceable beat that got most of the audience to their feet as the show came to an end.

At 71 at the time of this writing, Baby do Brasil is in great vocal shape, and has a solid band based in of her native Rio de Janeiro. She gave the audience what they expected—strictly the hits they wanted to hear, but without attempting to reproduce the studio versions, giving them a new feel by improvising and also encouraging her band to take the music in different directions.

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