On some level, live "greatest-hits" overviews by veteran artists serve as a tightrope walk whether they know it or not. In cases where the performer (or record company) is cynical enough to issue a substandard hits date as a cash grab or a stopgap insert into a long interval between studio albums, it may harm a reputation and result in fewer sales of recordings and concert tickets. When it is done well, the artist takes well-known material and performs as if it's being encountered for the first time, revitalizing it with new charts, personnel, and instrumentation.
The Essential Chico Buarque: Live at Vivo Rio in Rio De Janeiro is firmly a case of the latter. He delivers a whopping, 30-song career overview on two discs with elegant, graceful arrangements involving his own band, sometimes augmented by reeds, winds, and spare classical strings. At the forefront is his acoustic guitar and his voice, now somewhat weathered by time, but nonetheless wonderfully expressive.
Buarque's love of bossa and samba is undiminished and he peels back layers of meaning in these performances. First and foremost a songwriter, all but one of these are tunes were written by him or with some of the other great song poets of Brazil including
Edú Lobo,
Gilberto Gil, and
Tom Jobim. It is the latter --
Buarque's greatest influence -- whose "Tereza de Praia" he reads here in a sentimental duet with Wilson Das Neves (who also accompanies him on the preceding "Sou E").
Buarque has recorded some of these songs so many times it is difficult to believe he can bring anything new to them. Yet he does. Check the sultry tone poem that underlies "De Volta Ao Samba." On "Rubato," the chart is so different, it is not until he begins singing that the audience recognizes the tune. There are more highlights than can be mentioned in this deeply moving, warm, intimate performance -- in front of tens of thousands. That said, "Se Eu Soubesse" with its clarinet breaks, the soul bossa in "Anos Dourados," and the longish version of "Sinhá," featuring lovely guitar interplay between the artist and
Luiz Claudio Ramos, are among them.
Chico Buarque offers his hits with verve, aplomb, and humility: he takes nothing for granted and puts himself on the line in each tune. While it is debatable as place to start for newcomers, it is certainly necessary for fans -- yes, even those who have these songs in several versions.
The Essential Chico Buarque: Live at Vivo Rio in Rio De Janeiro proves that this singer and songwriter remains vital and classy. ~ Thom Jurek