Customer Reviews

Joao Voz E Violato

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Antonio Carlos Jobim is probably the most recognizable bossa nova figure, but without Joćo Gilberto, there would be no bossa nova (as had been said by the late Jobim himself). Gilberto was the one who originated the guitar rhythm, and used the laid-back vocals. This new CD is just what the title says--voice and guitar. I have heard complaints about the CD: it barely totals 30 minutes, there are only 4 songs that he hasn't recorded before, and his voice and presentation are a little too laid-back, almost weak. But if you're a big bossa nova fan, I can't see any reason not to add this to your collection--Joćo is still the voice of bossa nova music. It's also great to hear him singing the Caetano Veloso songs on this CD.

I haven't heard anything new in a long time from Joao Gilberto and so am delighted that he has released this selection of Bossa Nova standards featuring just his voice and guitar. Thirty-five years have passed since the heyday of the genre and Gilberto's voice is just as it ever was. I had to laugh when I read one review that said it sounded cool in Portuguese but lyrically banal when translated into English. Well, this is Brazilian pop, and most pop music in any language tends not to be deep. But compare this pop with its contemporary American counterpart and I'll take the Brazilian every time. Joao is smooth, relaxed, and soothing here and thus is the perfect thing to listen to while sitting on your patio with your morning coffee watching the sun come up. My favorite cuts are Voce Vai Ver, Chega de Saudade, and the all-time classic Desafinado. If you are a Bossa Nova fan, this album deserves a place in your collection. The CD may be short, but it sure is sweet.

Music, as all other arts, has creators, imitators and developers. Of the second category there is little to say; they basically jump the wagon and profit whatever they can from the creator, while the developer tries his best to make the original creation grow further. In Brazil, samba had been around for ages, but it took the genius of Bahia-born Joćo Gilberto to develop the local beat and blend it with elements of cool jazz, thus creating a whole new style, Bossa Nova, which swept the planet during the late fifties and early sixties, and still influences a great number of musicians, from Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz in their time to George Michael and Tuck & Patty nowadays.

Pray silence now, for the man who created the whole thing, with the support of Antonio Carlos Jobim (who ,against his own will took the credit for himself), Vinicius de Morais and others has just released a new studio album, eight years after 1992's "Joćo" and three after the live "Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar" (all titles, are, by the way, available in the U.S.). And this time, alas, he plays by himself. Just the man, his guitar and his voice, and no audience sounds.

The album, properly titled "Joao Voz e Violao (Joao, Voice and Guitar )opens with Caetano Veloso-penned "Desde Que O Samba É Samba" (Ever Since Samba Was Samba). Veloso,also a son of Bahia, wrote the song in 1993 as a tribute to samba and Bossa-Nova. In Joćo Gilberto's voice, the the lyric is taken to a whole new dimension:

A tristeza é senhora/ Desde que o samba é samba é assim/ A lágrima clara sobre a pele escura A chuva fria que cai lá fora Solidćo apavora Tudo demorando em ser tćo ruim Mas há uma coisa no tanto agora em mim Cantando mando a tristeza embora...

(Sadness is dominant/Ever since samba was samba it has been like that/the clear tear over the dark skin/The cold rain falling on the outside/Solitude is frightening/Bad things taking so long/ But there is something inside me/By singing I send sadness away...)

Caetano Veloso,who produced the album, is an innovator in his own right; he was the co-founder of of yet another wave in Brazilian popular music which blended Bossa Nova and other elements of Brazilian sounds with the influence of late sixties psychedelics and came up, in 1968, with a whole new sound, labeled "tropicalism." With time,he became more and more refined in his songwriting, and Joćo Gilberto's influence became more and more evident in his work, to the point of recording a rare Gilberto composition, "Vocź Esteve Com Meu Bem?" (Have You Been With My Sweetheart?", never recorded by its composer) in his 1996 "Fina Estampa En Vivo". Veloso and Gilberto are friends, and the latter was instrumental in Veloso's return from his politically enforced exile after three years in Europe.

The album also contains two classics which are present on virtually every Bossa Nova or Joćo Gilberto collection: Desafinado (Off-Key) and Chega de Saudade, which are both Tom Jobim co-compositions. The first was present in 1964's quadruple Grammy award winner Getz/Gilberto. The second one is considered by music historians the song that, in 1959, started the whole Bossa Nova wave. In this album, the songs are performed like Gilberto does onstage these days, with no accompaniment. I believe the singer and Veloso decided to re-make the two songs (specially "Chega de Saudade")in order to have a "proper" studio versions, since the earlier ones, recorded years ago, where too much in the musical format of the time, and Gilberto's guitar playing was not very well heard. There are, of course, the live version, but the applause somewhat damages the recording, specially when you're dealing with a very subtle vocalist and guitarist.

The other tracks are equally interesting. My personal favorite is "Nćo Vou Para Casa"(I'm not Going Home), a humorous samba in which the singer is urged to go back home, but refuses to return "before the sun rises". Very good are also Tom Jobim's "Vocź Vai Ver"(You'll See) and another Veloso composition, "Coraēćo Vagabundo"(Vagabond Heart). The only bad thing about the CD is that is is too short for the price; it has merely 35 minutes, which gives the listener a feeling of dissatisfaction as the album ends.

The cover of the album shows a girl with her finger on her lips,requesting silence. It is a direct message to the public of Credicard Hall in Sćo Paulo that booed Joao Gilberto during his 1999 performance, when, ever the perfectionist, complained of excessive feedback from the sound system. He reacted by showing his tongue to the public and left Caetano Veloso, who was also performing that night, alone on stage to finish the show. One can be almost sure that the idea for the cover came from Veloso.

One fact that gives this CD great importance is the fact that many of the original Bossa Nova players are no longer in this world. Stan Getz passed away in 1991, Jobim in 1994, Vinicius de Morais in 1980 and Charlie Byrd left us recently. Of course they left us countless recordings of their music, but fresh work from them is very rare, as Joćo Gilberto himself rarely does studio work. The album, yes, is short, but it is a very good addition to the collection of a listener of good music. A fine wine will go well with the album.

A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz, Tom Jobim, and Astrud Gilberto et. al. created the blockbuster Verve album "Getz/Gilberto", the second largest selling Jazz Album of all time. It popularized Bossa Nova/ Samba, and stayed on top of the rock,pop AND jazz charts for months in '64.

Of the talented principals, only Joao is still with us, Stan and Tom are gone.

In this CD, he recaptures the inner peace and intimacy which I first heard on "Getz/Gilberto". If you could listen to "Getz /Gilberto" and listen only to Joao, this would be that record. "Joao Voz e Viola" is solo, just guitar and voice, as the name implies, without the other parts.

I almost prefer to listen to the melifluous Portuguese and imagine what the words might mean without reading the translation (which sort of renders the tunes more banal and less ethereal) but that's a very minor criticism.

Joao speaks to us from his heart, deep within a place of inner serenity, and sometimes wistful sadness. After a long stressful day, put on Joao and let him take away your cares. Listen with your lover.

4 & 1/2 stars = a great recording and a great performance, finally available at a good price. This could get 5 stars if more people could hear it!

If there's one thing you can say about Joao Gilberto, it's that he has a style, an original and distinctive one, and he sticks with it. Four decades after he launched bossa nova with his recordings of "Chega de Saudade" and "Desafinado", he can re-record them, and the only difference is the age in his voice.

And he somehow gets away with it. Or people let him get away with it.

If you're familiar with those original classics or even his later works, "Voz e Violao" will unfortunately sound like the same old stuff, perhaps even -- do I dare say it? -- a tired rehash of his material. At times he seems to plod his way through the songs, singing the lyrics twice through for lack of anything better to do, while at the same time sounding rushed as if to end the recording session as quickly as possible. (And at little more than thirty minutes total playing time, he seems to have succeeded there.)

On the other hand, these very same things give his performances an edgy feel that's interesting at times. Gilberto's style of "pulling the song one way and the guitar the other", as Tom Jobim described it, is nearly at the breaking point, with voice and guitar seemingly leapfrogging each other at times. And while some musicians would give up on a song when they can no longer reach the high notes, on "Voce Vai Ver" Gilberto just jumps down an octave in the middle of a phrase, twisting the melody in a new way.

For material, he chooses three Jobim standards, two Caetano Veloso favorites, a Gilberto Gil song, and a handful of others.

For the bossa nova fan, any release by Joao is a must, and I'll never tire of his singing "Chega de Saudade", whether it's the 1958 version or the 1999 version. But I'll still stick to my treasured copy of "The Legendary Joao Gilberto".

Of course you're new to Joao or to bossa nova, "Voz e Violao" is a great place to start, then work your way upstream. In this case, the water from the source is the sweetest of all.

I've taken a discovery dive into the wonderworld of Brazilian music, which was mostly unbeknowst to me, even being Brazilian myself. From all the different genres and musical movements I've researched, bossa nova is by far the most inspired. It was the most creative ever made in this country and I think nothing better will ever be done. To listen to any given bossa nova song is to look at a snapshot of the Brazilian soul. And this was the first bossa nova record I bought. I'm looking forward to buying Gilberto's earlier, orchestrated work, part of which I've listened to on the internet, but for me, this is really what his music is all about: voice, guitar, and silence. Any bossa nova fan should buy this. By the way, I strongly disagree with those who call bossa nova "chill out" music. The interpretation of "Coraēćo Vagabundo" in this album is one of the most angsty, sad songs I've ever heard, and "Chega de Saudade" is a wonderful bittersweet tale and I love Joćo Gilberto's rendition of it, especially the guitar rythm.

This album is mainly a cover album of old Joćo Gilberto hits but with an important detail: these covers are new 1999 takes by the very Joćo Gilberto. This is an opportunity for a Gilberto hit showcase wrapped by updated technology and showing the splendor of his voice, even better at his 60s. I would recommend you'd prefer old wine to green ones. This is the case for Gilberto "sauvignon" grave Bossa. Great!

His music has a way of calming you down even in the most stressful situation that you will be hooked on this CD immediately.
I've listened to a lot of his music, but this is truely the master piece. Songs on this CD may seem simple; just the guitar and his voice, but it's this combination that brings out the complexity you will come to appreciate. You will be depriving yourself of more than just great music if you don't own this CD.

The cover of this cd pretty much says it all, bespeaking subtle shadings, hushed dynamics, and pure, unadorned Latin beauty. Like Fred Astaire, Joao Gilberto uses his voice, not technically strong, as a wonderful instrument of rhythm and melody. That, combined only with his subtle guitar figures, creates a unique sound, both complex and relaxed. It can serve quite nicely as background music for a dinner party (impressing your guests with your worldly good taste), but deserves more focused listening. Veloso's production is, wisely, a matter of getting out of the way to allow a master to present his work directly and simply, very much as if he were in the room with you. Not one note is superfluous.

This is a pretty straightforward album: just Joćo and his guitar, playing a bunch of songs he's cut before. Almost exceptionlessly beautifully, with one exception: the version of "Eu Sou da Bahia" on this album is HORRIBLE, even more so when compared to the version in his 1973 album, and should just have been left out. The rest of the songs are really good; my favorite is "Da Cor do Pecado". The sound could have been much better on this album, though; the bass sounds somewhat muddy. It's also really short at 30 mins.

Anyway, this is a really good album, and I was blown away by it when I got it; but after getting some of his older stuff (especially the original recordings compilation, his Montreux live set, and the 1973 album), I don't like it nearly as much.
Therefore, in my specially demanding Joćo Gilberto rating scale, it gets 3 big stars out of 5.