JAZZ REVIEW : Gilberto Charms at Catalina’s

Ipanema seemed a long way away when the Astrud Gilberto Sextet took to the bandstand Tuesday night at Catalina’s.

The singer, who rose to fame in 1963 as vocalist with Stan Getz on the Grammy-winning “The Girl From Ipanema,” was not on the scene. Her six musicians spent some 15 minutes investigating, from many angles, a composition by the drummer Duduka Da Fonseca.

Trombone by Richard Coffey, eerie synthesized chime effects, solos by the guitarist Paul Ricci and by Gilberto’s talented son Marcelo on electric bass were cast in a sort of avant-garde-cum-Brazilian-cum-jazz fusion, heavy on percussion, with a climactic conga solo by Valtinho.

When Astrud Gilberto appeared, the whole ambience changed as she cruised through “One Note Samba” and some of her other 1960s hits. Her small, tentative voice, wasted on American pop songs (“That Old Feeling”) and drowned out by the band on her on “Reconciliation,” was best served by Jobim’s “The Waters of March,” and by a delightful composition of her own, “Flora,” dedicated to Flora Purim.

Along the way there were numerous instrumental interludes: fluent work by trombonist Coffey, and a lengthy solo by Fonseca on the berimba u , entirely on two notes and soporific enough to be called “Two Note Slumber.” This is, however, a skilled, multifaceted band that generally served Gilberto well.

She saved two of her best for the last: “The Girl From Ipanema” (in Portuguese and English) and “Agua de Beber.” Gilberto is about as far away from a Streisand as it is possible to get, but her shy, almost schoolgirlish demeanor has a special modest charm. It will be audible here through Sunday.