RIP, Girl from Ipanema
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Astrud Gilberto, whose soft and sexy vocal performance on “The Girl From Ipanema,” the first song she ever recorded, helped make the sway of Brazilian bossa nova a hit sound in the United States in the 1960s, died on Monday. She was 83.
Her death was confirmed by Paul Ricci, a musician and a family friend, who said that Ms. Gilberto’s son Marcelo had authorized him to announce it. He provided no further details.
Ms. Gilberto enjoyed a four-decade recording career, cutting albums with celebrated musicians like Gil Evans, Stanley Turrentine and James Last as well as working with George Michael and others. But her biggest success came with “The Girl From Ipanema,” written by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, with English lyrics by Norman Gimbel, which she sang on record with the American jazz saxophonist Stan Getz.
When Ms. Gilberto recorded that song, she was married to João Gilberto, the Brazilian singer and guitarist often referred to as the father of the bossa nova. In 1963, the two of them traveled from Rio de Janeiro to New York City, where he was set to record a joint album with Mr. Getz, who had already released three albums that mixed jazz with samba and bossa nova.
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That’s not actually the girl, she just sang it.
The actual girl from Ipanema is still alive.
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She had a wonderful voice. I love that album they did with Stan Getz. His playing is also wonderful - often copied, never matched. The only reason she was there was to provide translation so that her husband could speak to Getz, and then they wanted somebody to sing the English lyric so she volunteered. She got paid $120 for the record date.
Link to video -
She had a wonderful voice. I love that album they did with Stan Getz. His playing is also wonderful - often copied, never matched. The only reason she was there was to provide translation so that her husband could speak to Getz, and then they wanted somebody to sing the English lyric so she volunteered. She got paid $120 for the record date.
Link to video@Doctor-Phibes I loved all of Getz's work with Gilberto. I also really like the 5 minute version of "Girl" that you linked.
Getz was totally sublime. I wonder how much of his stuff was improvised on the spot.
The rest of the tracks on that album are wonderful as well.
