Astrud Gilberto, the magical voice that turned “Garota de Ipanema” into a universal song

One of those moments that change the history of popular music forever. March 1963 Hi Gilberto located in A&R studios in New York. Next to him is a saxophonist apartment getz and a pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim. burn the disc Getz/Gilbert. They want to include jazz and bossa in their preconceived mix ipanema girl, a composition composed by Vinícius de Moraes and Jobim himself a year earlier. It will be titled here The girl from Ipanema and will have parts in English. Who will sing it? Gilbert’s very young wife, Astrud, knows the language. Raise your hand. It is offered. Musicians accept. And the magic is done.

Like a ray of light that ignites the goodness of love in the listener, this intervention of Astrud Gilberto — at that time a 22-year-old non-professional singer — caused admiration in the room. By transferring the grace of Brazilian singers’ words to the Anglo-Saxon world, he created something utterly fascinating. He turned the work into one of the most famous in the world. The album that featured it was an instant success, earning four Grammys. And the song itself — which is arranged as single using only Gilbert’s voice – is the second most recorded in history, after yesterday The Beatles. For this job, he earned barely $120, the minimum rate set by the Guild of American Musicians.

Unfair treatment, symbolic dimension The girl from Ipanema In many cases, this reduces Astrud Gilberto’s career. Knowing on the fly the ins and outs of the industry — what set her apart in big money deals — and the double face of Stan Getz — who on the one hand bragged about discovering her, but on the inside treated her badly when she was forced to go on tour with him —, in 1965 Gilberto began a series of excellent records for the Verve label. They are there Album Astrud Gilberto (1965), Shadow of your smile (1965)Look at the rainbow (1966)Samba on the beach (1966)A certain smile, a certain sadness (1967)windy (1968)September 17 (1969) and I have nothing better to do (1970). In all of them it conjugates a mixture of sophistication, luxury, simplicity and beauty that always leads to the magic of her voice.

His career would continue — his 1971 album with Stanley Turrentine being a highlight — until it slowed down and returned sporadically in the ’80s and ’90s, with several live albums. As long as your iThe influence was evident in groups like Belle & Sebastian, Stereolab or Pizzicato Five. And artists like Sada or George Michael invoked her as a reference icon. In 2002, he was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame. Years away from the scene, she died today at the age of 83 in Salvador de Bahia, the city where she was born.