Latin jazz is a genre of music that blends African, Brazilian, Spanish and European styles and rhythms. It resulted from the years of intertwining sounds of Cuban and Spanish Caribbean percussions with American jazz in 1920s New Orleans. Latin jazz is fun music that is heavy with saxophone, percussion and piano; it is music that makes you want to dance!
When I think of Latin jazz, I think of the great João Gilberto and my favorite artist of all time, the Brazilian-born, Astrud Gilberto. Along with these two is the American-born Stan Getz, a jazz saxophonist who, with the Gilbertos, helped form the branch of Latin jazz called Bossa Nova. These are just a few names as there are tons of contributions from artists like Cuban-born Mario Bauzá who, with his trumpet, created the wildly popular song “Tanga.”
Focusing on Getz and Gilberto, both had successful solo careers but truly made magic when they collaborated on their self-titled album “Getz/Gilberto” in 1964. Gilberto was a Brazilian composer, guitarist and singer who, with Getz, created gorgeous songs like “O Grande Amor” and “Desafinado,” two songs found on their joint album.
These men were amazing musicians without a doubt, but the one who really made this style of music, as well as this album, as successful as it is even today was Astrud Gilberto. She may have been Joao’s wife, but that was the least interesting thing about her. On the day Getz and Gilberto recorded “The Girl from Ipanema,” her husband offhandedly asked her to sing, in English, on the track. With no prior preparation, she agreed and absolutely blessed the world with her rendition of the song.
When you hear “The Girl from Ipanema” today, it is almost always going to be either the Frank Sinatra version or the incredible track vocalized by Astrud Gilberto. This became the most popular song on the album, which begs the question of how much she may have been exploited by her own husband, but that is a story for another time. My point is that she was so talented that the addition of her vocals to the song, and a few others, is what made the album.
Astrud Gilberto then released an album of her own a year later, in 1965, and I listen to it almost every day. She then continued to release more projects that were just as magnificent as when she first got behind the microphone. I urge everyone who loves good groove to listen to her contributions to Latin jazz, Bossa Nova and music as a whole.