Yes, Astrud Gilberto has passed away.

Somewhere in the northern wilds BoJ is weeping at the memory of the Girl from Ipanema, who enchanted him as a callow missionary many decades ago and whose era too is nearing its end.

Stop making me google people !

You don't know Astrud Gilberto?

For shame!

Son, you brought this on yerself.

Dude doesn't know Astrud, probably doesn't listen to bossa nova.

You can't get much more Intermountain West than that!

You’re a bit slow on the uptake, sister.

No mention of silvio?

Yes. I wanted to give Dave a decent chance to correct his omission.

Speaking of Silvio, I know a mixed martial artist who fought in a cage match in Moscow 10-15 years ago. Afterwards she was invited to drinks with some visiting dignitaries.

Silvio, no spring chicken, asked her if he could be her boyfriend for the night.

Hope springs eternal, I guess.

What about Treat Williams?

I was going to post about Astrud, so your timing is perfect.

She wasn’t a one hit wonder, but Girl from Ipanema was such a big hit it pretty much drowned out everything else she did.

I grew up on “3 chord rock”, easy to play along with on a guitar. By the mid sixties, people like Paul Simon were writing more intricate music. And of course jazz musicians were at a completely different skill level.

I was sent to Brazil a couple years after Girl from Ipanema came out. I bought the solo guitar sheet music in Brazil, and still have it somewhere here. It was a very tough slog, but I finally got to where I could do a semi-passable rendition.

That song, and the movie Black Orpheus are what brought bossa nova to the world. The local art house theater just did a theme of great music in film last month, and Black Orpheus was in the lineup. I was surprised to find out it was originally a French screenplay, and the movie was a joint French/Brazilian production.

Here's a story that is way better, but I can't take credit for it. It is written by former RFMer Tal Bachman, and goes into the back story of how the album Getz/Gilberto, came into being. It's a five or ten minute read, and it had some fascinating detail I wasn't aware of. Like Phil Ramone was the recording engineer, and won his first of 14 Grammys over his career, for that album. The album itself won 4 Grammys including album of the year. Not bad for a first album by the band, and 2 days work in a second-tier recording studio.

Astrud Gilberto was married to one of the band members, and was mostly along to watch. They had an English lyric to the second part of Girl from Ipanema, and she spoke accented English and could sing, so hey, let's record her and see how it sounds.

And that off the cuff decision totally changed a lot of lives.

No paywall. Fascinating article. :
https://www.steynonline.com/13302/tal-bachman-remembering-getz-gilberto



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2023 04:08PM by Brother Of Jerry.

Yep. Joao wasn't hitting the lyrics right, and Astrud stepped in to show him how.

Her impromptu performance changed musical history.

I can't recall where I read it, but the story said that Astrud was paid $75 for that performance; that was it, no residuals.

The story's point was that Gilberto totally cheated her, knew it, and was happy with his decision.

I play in several jazz groups and Girl from Ipanema gets played all the time for dances - bossa nova. I close my eyes and just play from memory.

Speaking of music, Dave, the thrill is gone! RIP to the best of the blues artists, B.B. King.

Dave, keep up!

BB King?

That's one I've seen in person a few times, one I'll really miss.

I wish I'd seen Astrud. . .

One of the great things about King, along with Buddy Guy and John Lee Hooker and some others, was the degree to which his influence inspired so many different artists and genres.

He changed music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TGU35i8czo

How interesting it is. Sometimes, I watch YouTube videos, and last week one video popped up about the song, "The Girl From Ipanema is a far weirder song than you thought".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFWCbGzxofU

The young man hosting the video, I would say, supplements what Tal Bachman wrote.