Customer Reviews

Getz/Gilberto

5 star:		(141)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This album is bossa nova's finest moment. It contains the definitive version of one of the greatest hits in jazz music --- The Girl From Ipanema --- the first part sung in Portuguese by guitarist/singer João Gilberto, the second in English by his ex-wife Astrud who had never sung professionally before this recording. All the songs were written by Antonio Carlos Jobim except Para Machucar Meu Coraçao and Doralice. Stan Getz's lyrical yet swinging solos complement João's equally lyrical singing and rhythmic guitar playing. The unassuming Jobim plays a brief but beautiful piano solo on Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars). Tommy Williams (bass) and Milton Banana (drums) provide the steady rhythm without overpowering the music. To this day, Getz/Gilberto remains the definitive bossa nova album.

The sound quality on this 20-bit remastered edition is even more brilliant than the original CD reissue. Moreover, the fading notes on some of the selections have been extended, thus prolonging the listening pleasure just a bit more.

This album proves that music is indeed a universal language. You don't need to know Portuguese to understand, let alone, appreciate this album. All you need is the ability to appreciate fine music and an innate sense to admire beauty, and this CD has plenty to offer.

A college friend recommended this album to me once while shopping for some new music. He told me he didn't think I would go wrong with it, that it was pretty good. I had no idea what it was or who Jobim, Getz, or Gilberto were at the time but I figured his recommendation was as good as the reviews I read on the backs of the album covers for music I had never heard, so I bought it. That was over 30 years ago and I still listen regularly to this "Getz/Gilberto" album......I don't understand a word of the Portuguese but the music is as fresh today as it was back then. It continues to touch my soul and smooth me (especially after a day with lots of rough edges), it lifts me, it soothes me and bathes me in warmth and hope...it is light, whimsical, deep, and so...very...rhythmically balanced. Thank God for CD's, the old vinyl disc was worn so badly..... I listen and I want the music to go on forever...and for me, so far, it has....."Quiet nights of quiet stars! , quiet chords from my guitars, floating on the silence that surrounds us, quiet thoughts and quiet dreams, quiet walks by quiet streams,and the window that looks out on Corcovado.." This music brings me ageless pleasure, and...as we (the music and I) recede farther and farther from 1963, its velvety chords just getter better and better........"Oh, how lovely".......

How did I find this gem? I was looking at Sade, whom I think are pretty good themselves. But there was something about their sound (and this may betray my ignorance of music...) that I couldn't put a finger on. Here on Amazon, they indicate what other music is bought by those who buy certain discs. Sade buyers buy Getz/Gilberto. I checked into it and bought it.

The first time I listened to Getz/Gilberto I almost burst into tears (I'm as sensitive as the next, but this was something else...), struck by it's beauty and power. I was captivated, enthralled... I listened to it three times back to back to back. Though I don't understand Portugese, it's not necessary in order to understand what is being conveyed. This is what musicians strive to accomplish, too often without success.

This album was recorded over 35 years ago. Compare it to the bland, slick, superficial, and generally passionless music so often presented today. Getz/Gilberto reminds us that honest emotion, delivered with technical competence is truly a work of art.

I wish (and hope...) that there are young musicians somewhere out there who are listening to, and learning from, this and other recordings like it. Perhaps they'll return quality and yes, artistry to popular music.

These songs knocked everyone off their feet when they debuted at what seemed to be the end of the Bossa Nova craze --in the cool-post-Beatnik 60's cocktail era. But actually, in Brazil, the Bossa Nova fever never did quite cool off and in '72, when I was visiting family there, this album was still trotted out proudly at every gathering.

Not only is this album a great party CD for "retro" parties, relaxed evenings or just sitting at home and relaxing, but it introduces you to the greats of Brazilian music. Oh, there is a whole lot more great Brazilian music than just this, but this album is surely the place to start. (By the way, if you have insomnia, this can be quite soothing. Lie back on that imaginary beach in Rio and float away on Gilberto's soft voice. Mmmmmmm....)

To date, this review has been helpful 26 of 27 times.

A college friend recommended this album to me. He said he didn't think I would go wrong with it, that it was pretty good. I had no idea what it was, or who Jobim, Getz, or Gilberto were, but I figured his recommendation was as good as the reviews I read on the backs of the album covers for music I had never heard, so I bought it. That was over 30 years ago and I still listen regularly to this "Getz/Gilberto" album........I don't understand a word of the Portuguese but the music is as fresh today as it was back then. It continues to touch my soul and smooth me (especially after a day with lots of rough edges), it lifts me, it soothes me and bathes me in warmth and hope. It is light, whimsical, deep, and beautifully balanced rhythmically.

Thank God for CD's; the old vinyl disc was worn so badly. I listen and I want the music to go on forever; and for me, so far, it has.

"Quiet nights of quiet stars, quiet chords from my guitars, floating on the silence that surrounds us, quiet thoughts and quiet dreams, quiet walks by quiet streams,and the window that looks out on Corcovado..."

This music brings me ageless pleasure, and...as we (the music and I) recede farther and farther from 1963, its velvety chords just getter better and better.

"Oh, how lovely . . . "

Why for me, of all the great and varied records ever made, is the relatively modest 'Getz/Gilberto' the most precious? Is it the miraculous, once-in-a-lifetime meeting of four talents - composer/arranger Antonio Carlos Jobim, tenor sax Stan Getz, singers Joao and Astrud Gilberto - performing a perfect selection of the most perfect songs ever written? Is it those songs themselves, the ultimate expression of bossa nova yearning, flavoured with the warm colour of Brazil, yet available to anyone who's ever cried and dreamed in their bedroom? Is it that swirling, monotonous, barely perceptible, yet crucial bossa nova rhythm, taking hold of your body and mind until you too, without noticing it, are swaying like a samba? Is it the creative generosity of Stan Getz, whose saxophone IS the sound of this music, but who is perfectly content not to shout about it? Is it the delicious vocal interplay between Joao and Astrud Gilberto, he mumbling privately to hmself, she quivering to hit the right notes, so distant yet so complimentary you feel you are eavesdropping on the most deeply personal conversations, an especially disturbing one in the deceptively wistful 'Corcovada'? Is it that miracle of popular music, 'the Girl from Ipanema', a song I must have heard a thousand times, and which still has the power to transport me to another world - a tantalising play between Joao's exotic foreign frustration, eloquent music and Astrud's drily amused interpreter? Is it 'Para Machuchar Meu Coracao' (To hurt my heart), quiet, circular heartbreak, along with 'Insensatez' the most beautiful, haunting, heartstopping, wistful song ever written?

All of these things on their own would serve to make 'Gilberto/Getz' a masterpiece; together they make it a treasure. What makes it special and personal, I think, are the unassuming shards of milky piano that can occasionally be heard behind the surface delights. Played by the composer Jobim himself, they are the emotinal key through this faraway world into your own heart.

How many albums can boast a line-up as amazing as Getz, Gilberto (both Joao and Astrud), and Jobim? Add in the fact that EVERY song is a keeper, and you have a truly amazing set. Stan Getz, possessor of the most beautiful tone in jazz (sorry, Johnny Hodges), is hard to top. His playing evokes several emotions while staying true to the music at all times. Joao Gilberto's guitar playing and singing were extremely influential, and his wife became a star with her effortless vocals on "Girl from Ipanema" and "Corcovado." Jobim's sparse piano enhances the atmosphere of the album, and Tommy Williams and Milton Banana provide flawless rhythmic support. How can you NOT love this album? Highly recommended to all music lovers.

To this date, this remains the GOLD STANDARD for all bossa nova records. It was the highpoint. For once, it had Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim - all the major forces of bossa nova on one record - I don't believe that ever happened again.

The playing is superb and you can hear and feel the chemistry and enjoyment of the group. The songs are timeless and sound fresh 40 yrs later......noone could play the sax like Stan Getz.


The sound is amazing. Verve did a heck of a job remastering an already great 30 inch per second (15 inch was common)..

I can only repeat, if u ever get only ONE bossa nova album, this is it.

This is creamy, melt in your mouth music from the pulsating origins of the Brazilian Bossa Nova. The irony at the time is that tenorman Getz was accused of `selling his soul' when Desafinado came out, and got a lot of heat from some of his "fans" when it became a big hit. Said Getz: "I remember being assailed by the wife of a famous trombonist after receiving eight Grammies for a record that I thought was just beautiful. She screamed, 'you turncoat, you went commercial.' I thought the Bossa Nova music was just beautiful music."

Call it destiny in motion, because the blend of Getz and the voice of Gilberto was made in heaven for his lyrical sound and his improvisational genius. No one could play these types of subtle but complex chord changes like Getz - the kind of sounds I feel he was born to play and is very difficult to do well.

A friend of mine happened to play this album for me a few days ago and we were stunned into silence by its enduring lyricism and subtle gentility, not to mention its beauty of soul combined with the poetry of the sensuous Portuguese language... sigh... I get shudders... And maybe I'm too far gone on this recording, but this kind of music seems to portray the innocent, positive romanticism that's possible between man and woman... the sand and the sea... and keeps one young in spirit...

It's great to see this album remastered. When João Gilberto released his first single in Brazil, in the ides of 1956, some people were shocked. "Who is this guy singing like a ventriloquist?" But the strange sounding guy rapidly conquered the local audiences and soon was being listened with interest abroad. He was the essence of bossa nova, non emphatic, cool, lyrical, and with a different beat which he created practically alone. It was samba reduced to its bare essentials. The encounter between bossa players who loved jazz and jazz players who were discovering the new Brazilian rhythm did not take long to happen, and when it did it lasted for years and produced literally hundreds of records. This Getz/Gilberto date is in my opinion one of the best fruit of that crop, a classic of a golden age of popular music. Old timers like me who bought the first release of this album when it was really an album, a LP, can only hope that it will be equally enjoyed by the younger generation of CD music lovers: if they love music they will love it!