I know "The Girl From Ipanema" now epitomizes elevator music and forgettable lounge music... due to the worldwide explosion of Bossa Nova music and the bad interpretations from the likes of Herb Alpert, Sergio Mendes and other lounge acts as bad as James Last. If you are old enough to remember that period of Bossa Nova lite you are probably no longer reading this. If, like me, you missed that and are not scarred for life... you may appreciate Bossa Nova as an interesting genre. Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto released the most famous version on their Getz/Gilberto album from 1964 and it featured Joao's wife Astrid Gilberto. She only got the opportunity to sing it after they had decided on an English language version while in the studio and she was the only one who could speak English well enough. She wasn't a trained singer and that may have been part of the charm. She became a huge star after the success of the album. It is a beautiful version which features the soft vocals of Joao Gilberto before Astrid adds another dimension to it, although, the single jumped straight to the Astrid vocals, which is a travesty... but I will have to concede that long singles didn't exist in the mid 60's... so I'm glad the album was a success so people could here it as it should've been heard. It also features the songwriter himself (the music - not the lyrics) Antonio Carlos Jobim on piano. The album is a classic that jazz purists and the general public all enjoyed without prejudice. If you don't own this album... you have some shopping to do. I won't hold you up any longer.
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