Astrud Gilberto - The Diva Series

Styles: Vocal, Bossa Nova
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:39
Size: 139,7 MB
Art: Front

(2:19) 1. Agua de Beber
(1:51) 2. Bim Bom
(3:39) 3. Tu Mi Delirio
(5:24) 4. The Girl From Ipanema
(2:42) 5. On My Mind
(2:38) 6. Misty Roses
(1:56) 7. Manha de Carnival
(2:25) 8. Non-Stop To Brazil
(2:55) 9. I Haven't Got Anything Better To Do
(4:14) 10. Corcovado (Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars)
(2:26) 11. Eu e Voce (Me And You)
(2:24) 12. The Gentle Rain
(2:39) 13. So Nice (Summer Samba)
(2:24) 14. Berimbau
(3:05) 15. Once Upon A Summertime
(3:12) 16. All That's Left Is To Say Goodbye
(2:42) 17. Dindi
(2:41) 18. Stay
(1:34) 19. Canoeiro
(3:09) 20. A Certain Sadness
(3:06) 21. Canto de Ossanha (Let Go)

Astrud Gilberto, the Brazilian canary with the voice like honey and diction that defied belief, has been compiled many times on Verve, but rarely as well as on her entry in 2003's The Diva Series.

A 21-track of her prime decade, the '60s, this one includes all of the classics associated with her: "The Girl From Ipanema," "Agua de Beber," "Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)," "So Nice (Summer Samba)," and "Dindi." Not all of her LPs have been reissued on CD (in the States), so the compilers also added tracks that may surprise a few Gilberto fans, like "Eu e Voce" and "Canto de Ossanha (Let Go)." By John Bush https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-diva-mw0000595313

The Diva Series

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Astrud Gilberto - The Collection

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:30
Size: 95.0 MB
Styles: Bossa Nova, Latin jazz vocals
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[2:51] 1. Corcovado (Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars)
[2:11] 2. Once I Loved
[6:31] 3. The Girl From Ipanema
[1:49] 4. Bim Bom
[2:45] 5. How Insensitive
[2:44] 6. Felicidade
[1:55] 7. Manha De Carnaval
[2:22] 8. Fly Me To The Moon
[1:59] 9. Dreamer
[2:53] 10. Light My Fire
[2:55] 11. O Morro
[2:39] 12. Meditation (Meditação)
[2:39] 13. Dindi
[2:49] 14. Beach Samba
[2:21] 15. Berimbau

The honey-toned chanteuse on the surprise Brazilian crossover hit "The Girl From Ipanema," Astrud Gilberto parlayed her previously unscheduled appearance (and professional singing debut) on the song into a lengthy career that resulted in nearly a dozen albums for Verve and a successful performing career that lasted into the '90s. Though her appearance at the studio to record "The Girl From Ipanema" was due only to her husband João, one of the most famed Brazilian artists of the century, Gilberto's singular, quavery tone and undisguised naïveté propelled the song into the charts and influenced a variety of sources in worldwide pop music.

Born in Bahia, Gilberto moved to Rio de Janeiro at an early age. She'd had no professional musical experience of any kind until 1963, the year of her visit to New York with her husband, João Gilberto, in a recording session headed by Stan Getz. Getz had already recorded several albums influenced by Brazilian rhythms, and Verve teamed him with the cream of Brazilian music, Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto, for his next album. Producer Creed Taylor wanted a few English vocals for maximum crossover potential, and as it turned out, Astrud was the only Brazilian present with any grasp of the language. After her husband laid down his Portuguese vocals for the first verse of his and Jobim's composition, "The Girl From Ipanema," Astrud provided a hesitant, heavily accented second verse in English.

Not even credited on the resulting LP, Getz/Gilberto, Astrud finally gained fame over a year later, when "The Girl From Ipanema" became a number five hit in mid-1964. The album became the best-selling jazz album up to that point, and made Gilberto a star across America. Before the end of the year, Verve capitalized on the smash with the release of Getz Au Go Go, featuring a Getz live date with Gilberto's vocals added later. Her first actual solo album, The Astrud Gilberto Album, was released in May 1965. Though it barely missed the Top 40, the LP's blend of Brazilian classics and ballad standards proving quite infectious with easy listening audiences.

Though she never returned to the pop charts in America, Verve proved to be quite understanding for Astrud Gilberto's career, pairing her with ace arranger Gil Evans for 1966's Look to the Rainbow and Brazilian organist/arranger Walter Wanderley for the dreamy A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness, released later that year. She remained a huge pop star in Brazil for the rest of the 1960s and '70s, but gradually disappeared in America after her final album for Verve in 1969. In 1971, she released a lone album for CTI (with Stanley Turrentine) but was mostly forgotten in the U.S. until 1984, when "Girl From Ipanema" recharted in Britain on the tails of a neo-bossa craze. Gilberto gained worldwide distribution for 1987's Astrud Gilberto Plus the James Last Orchestra and 2002's Jungle. ~bio by John Bush

The Collection

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Joao Y Astrud Gilberto With Antonio Carlos Jobim & Stan Getz - Samba E Bossa Nova

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:47
Size: 118.6 MB
Styles: Bossa Nova, Brazilian jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[6:26] 1. Garota De Ipanema
[5:25] 2. Corcovado
[2:21] 3. O Pato
[3:17] 4. Samba De Uma Nota So
[3:05] 5. Samba De Minha Terra
[4:00] 6. Meditaçao
[4:19] 7. It Might As Well Be Spring
[2:51] 8. Um Abraço No Bonfa
[2:03] 9. Bim Bom
[2:43] 10. A Felicidade Adieu Tristesse
[1:58] 11. The Telephone Song
[4:23] 12. Only Trust Your Heart
[3:22] 13. Eu E Voce
[4:04] 14. Rosa Moreno
[1:24] 15. Doralice

I was on a luckless search looking for a review of this album when a friend called and asked what I was doing. So I told him and asked him if he knew where somebody might have written a relevant review of this album. He said there was only one word I needed to write - WOW!

Samba E Bossa Nova

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Various - Antonio Carlos Jobim & Friends (3 Parts)

Brazilian songwriter and vocalist Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927–1994) was one of the creators of the subtle, whispery, jazz-influenced popular song style known as bossa nova. He has been widely acclaimed as one of Brazil's greatest and most innovative musicians of the twentieth century.

Jobim's place in the annals of popular music was secured by a single hit song, "The Girl from Ipanema" (1964), which he co-wrote with lyricist Vinícius de Moraes. His creative contributions to jazz, however, went much deeper; many of his songs became jazz standards, and, in the words of Richard S. Ginell of the All Music Guide , "Every other set" performed in jazz clubs "seems to contain at least one bossa nova." Jobim was sometimes called the George Gershwin of Brazil, not so much because of any musical or lyric similarity Jobim's songs tended to have oblique, often poetic lyrics quite unlike the clever romantic rhymes of George Gershwin's brother Ira but because his music became the bedrock for the work of jazz musicians for decades after its creation.

Album: Antonio Carlos Jobim & Friends (Part 1)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 58:22

Size: 133.6 MB

Styles: Bossa Nova, Brazilian jazz

Year: 2015

[2:40] 1. Antônio Carlos Jobim - The Girl From Ipanema

[2:28] 2. Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - Agua De Beber

[5:15] 3. Dizzy Gillespie - One Note Samba

[3:36] 4. João Gilberto - Só Danço Samba

[4:17] 5. Antônio Carlos Jobim - Corcovado

[2:48] 6. Astrud Gilberto - How Insensitive

[4:13] 7. Stan Getz - Chega De Saudade (No More Blues)

[3:31] 8. Elis Regina - Águas De Março

[2:15] 9. Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - Wave

[2:27] 10. Caetano Veloso - Meditação

[4:55] 11. Gal Costa - A Felicidade

[4:26] 12. Antônio Carlos Jobim - Captain Bacardi

[2:40] 13. Astrud Gilberto - Dindi

[4:41] 14. Stan Getz - O Grande Amor

[3:09] 15. Elis Regina - Inútil Paisagem

[2:40] 16. Walter Wanderley - Song Of The Jet

[2:13] 17. Ella Fitzgerald - Desafinado

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Album: Antonio Carlos Jobim & Friends (Part 2)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 66:35

Size: 152.4 MB

Styles: Bossa Nova, Brazilian jazz

Year: 2015

[4:44] 1. Wes Montgomery - O Morro Nao Tem Vez

[2:10] 2. Astrud Gilberto - Amor Em Paz

[3:50] 3. Antônio Carlos Jobim - Brasil Nativo

[5:03] 4. Antônio Carlos Jobim - Para Machuchar Meu Coracao

[6:21] 5. Herbie Hancock - Ela E Carioca

[3:09] 6. Elis Regina - Retrato Em Branco E Preto

[5:48] 7. Ella Fitzgerald - Jazz Samba

[2:45] 8. Astrud Gilberto - Felicidade

[2:51] 9. João Gilberto - Vivo Sohando

[5:27] 10. Joe Henderson - Dreamer

[2:06] 11. Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - Triste

[2:32] 12. Astrud Gilberto - Eu E Voco

[2:39] 13. Elis Regina - Bonita

[5:18] 14. Joe Henderson - Portrait In Black And White

[4:34] 15. João Gilberto - Este Seu Olhar

[1:44] 16. Elis Regina - O Que Tinha De Ser

[5:26] 17. Antônio Carlos Jobim - Ana Luiza

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Album: Antonio Carlos Jobim & Friends (Part 3)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 64:12

Size: 147.0 MB

Styles: Bossa Nova, Brazilian jazz

Year: 2015

Art: Front

[6:36] 1. Joe Henderson - Boto

[3:29] 2. Antônio Carlos Jobim - Luiza

[3:59] 3. Antônio Carlos Jobim - Remember

[5:03] 4. Gal Costa - Se Todos Fossem Iguais A Voce

[3:18] 5. Antônio Carlos Jobim - Chansong

[8:46] 6. Lee Ritenour - Stone Flower

[2:19] 7. Antônio Carlos Jobim - Mojave

[6:39] 8. Stan Getz - Once Again (Outra Vez)

[3:09] 9. Elis Regina - Chovendo Na Roseira

[2:07] 10. Nelson Riddle - Por Toda Minha Vida

[2:27] 11. Astrud Gilberto - She's A Carioca

[2:17] 12. Astrud Gilberto - Water To Drink

[3:44] 13. Antônio Carlos Jobim - Looks Like December

[3:16] 14. Antônio Carlos Jobim - Nuvens Douradas (Golden Clouds)

[3:11] 15. Joe Henderson - Happy Madness

[3:44] 16. Antônio Carlos Jobim - Anos Dourados

Antonio Carlos Jobim & Friends (Part 1)(Part 2)(Part 3) 

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Astrud Gilberto - Windy

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1968
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 27:46
Size: 65,1 MB
Art: Front

(2:02)  1. Dreamy
(2:05)  2. Chup Chup I Got Away
(2:50)  3. Never My Love
(3:23)  4. Lonely Afternoon
(2:41)  5. On My Mind
(2:34)  6. The Bare Necessities
(2:48)  7. Windy
(2:09)  8. Sing Me A Rainbow
(2:26)  9. In My Life
(1:33) 10. Crickets Sing For Anamaria (Os Grillos)
(3:12) 11. Where Are They Now?

While assembled from seemingly disparate sessions arranged by Eumir Deodato, Don Sebesky, and Pat Williams, Windy nevertheless proves one of Astrud Gilberto's most consistent and sublime efforts, artfully straddling the division between Brazilian bossa nova and American sunshine pop. Credit the aforementioned arrangers for much of the LP's appeal from a percolating rendition of the Association's title cut to a neo classical reinvention of the Beatles' "In My Life," the songs possess a lithe, shimmering beauty that perfectly complements Gilberto's feathery vocals. Still, she can't quite skirt the cloying sweetness that undermines so many of her mid-period Verve LPs son Marcelo, who first joined his mother on the previous Beach Samba for an excruciating duet version of the Lovin Spoonful's "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," resurfaces here for a reading of The Jungle Book's "The Bare Necessities," proving yet again that children should be seen and not heard. ~ Jason Ankeny https://www.allmusic.com/album/windy-mw0000384258

Personnel: Astrud Gilberto - vocals; Marcelo Gilberto - vocals on "The Bare Necessities"; Patrick Williams - arranger, conductor (on track 4); Eumir Deodato - arranger, conductor (on tracks 1, 2, 5 and 7); Don Sebesky - arranger, conductor (on tracks 3, 6, 8, 9 and 11)

Windy

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Antonio Carlos Jobim - Wave: the Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook

Styles: Vocal, Brazilian Jazz
Year: 1962
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:32
Size: 146,2 MB
Art: Front

(2:52)  1. Wave
(5:50)  2. So Danço Samba (Jazz Samba)
(3:14)  3. Happy Madness
(3:12)  4. Chovendo Na Roseira
(5:53)  5. Desafinado
(2:48)  6. A Felicidade
(4:46)  7. O Grande Amor
(4:03)  8. Insensatez
(4:48)  9. Amor Em Paz (Once I Loved)
(4:16) 10. Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)
(5:20) 11. Triste
(2:31) 12. The Boy from Ipanema
(5:18) 13. Samba de Uma Nota Só (One Note Samba)
(5:26) 14. Vivo Sonhando
(3:08) 15. Wave

The sequel to the popular The Girl from Ipanema anthology basically reshuffles the deck, duplicating nine of the earlier CD's songs and adding six new ones, using mostly the same performers with a few additions. The new wrinkle is that the artists perform different tunes, a game that one imagines could be continued indefinitely on future issues. Among the highlights: Ella Fitzgerald has a marvelous time bouncing to the rhythms of "So Danço Samba," Wes Montgomery  the consummate musician scores again with a lovely "Amor Em Paz," and Oscar Peterson is a surreal speed demon on "Triste." Lowlight: Sarah Vaughan's awkwardly mannered "The Boy from Ipanema." Again, there is plenty of Stan Getz along with his tenor sax successor in matters Jobim, Joe Henderson plus Astrud and João Gilberto, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Charlie Byrd, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, and Jobim himself. As a jazz buff's introduction to Jobim, either Songbook will do, but Verve's The Man from Ipanema triple album is the best, most comprehensively idiomatic choice overall. ~ Richard S.Ginell https://www.allmusic.com/album/wave-the-antonio-carlos-jobim-songbook-mw0000648316     

Personnel includes: Antonio Carlos Jobim (vocals, piano, guitar); Cesar Camargo Mariano (piano, electric piano); Joao Gilberto (vocals, guitar); Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Elis Regina, Astrud Gilberto (vocals); Stan Getz, Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone); Dizzy Gillespie, Donald Byrd (trumpet); Romeo Penque (flute, piccolo, clarinet, oboe, English horn); Danny Bank (flute, alto flute); Phil Woods (clarinet); Toots Thielemans (harmonica); Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson, Lalo Schifrin, Eliane Elias (piano); Pat Metheny, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Byrd, Oscar Castro-Neves (guitar); Ron Carter, George Duvivier, Sam Jones (bass); Grady Tate, Paulo Braga (drums); Candido Camero (conga); Milton Banana (percussion); Gil Evan's Orchestra, Frank Foster's Orchestra.

Wave: the Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook

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Astrud Gilberto - Beach Samba

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 27:35
Size: 63.2 MB
Styles: Bossa Nova, Brazilian jazz
Year: 1967/2017
Art: Front

[2:41] 1. Stay
[2:35] 2. Misty Roses
[2:06] 3. The Face I Love
[2:07] 4. Parade (A Banda)
[1:59] 5. Oba, Oba
[1:32] 6. Canoeiro
[2:25] 7. I Had The Craziest Dream
[2:47] 8. Beach Samba
[2:43] 9. My Foolish Heart
[2:21] 10. I Think Of You
[2:40] 11. You Didn't Have To Be So Nice
[1:35] 12. Nao Bate O Corocao

One of Gilberto's less impressive '60s Verve outings, primarily due to the more pop-oriented song selection. Much of this is just standard pleasant Gilberto: offhand vocals and a sumptuous Brazil pop-cum-U.S. orchestration feel (Ron Carter and Toots Thielemans are among the sidemen). And some of the pop choices work well, particularly Tim Hardin's gorgeous "Misty Roses." No vocals or arrangements, however, could save the criminally wrong-headed military march of "A Banda (Parade)," or the exasperatingly coochie-coochie duet between Gilberto and her six-year-old son on the Lovin' Spoonful's "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice." Which makes it all the more surprising when the next and concluding track, "Nao Bate O Corocao," has Gilberto cutting loose with confident, sassy scats, as she rarely did before or since. The CD reissue improves matters by adding five bonus cuts from A Certain Smile a Certain Sadness, recorded in 1966 in more authentically bossa nova-style arrangements, anchored by organist Walter Wanderley. ~Richie Unterberger

Beach Samba

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Walter Wanderley - Now Playing Walter Wanderley

Size: 232,1 MB
Time: 97:03
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Brazilian Jazz & Rhythms
Art: Front

01. Summer Samba (Samba De Verao) (3:04)
02. The Girl From Ipanema (2:35)
03. So Nice (2:36)
04. Goodbye Sadness (Tristeza) (Astrud Gilberto) (3:33)
05. The Great Love (3:01)
06. Song Of The Jet (2:40)
07. Soulful Strut (3:06)
08. Beach Samba (3:51)
09. Taste Of Sadness (2:50)
10. Batucada (2:06)
11. Penha (2:45)
12. Call Me (2:25)
13. Who Needs Forever (Astrud Gilberto) (2:48)
14. Voce Ja Foi Bahia (Astrud Gilberto) (2:13)
15. Nega Do Cabelo Duro (Astrud Gilberto) (2:17)
16. The Sadness Of After (Astrud Gilberto) (2:27)
17. Portuguese Washerwoman (Astrud Gilberto) (1:29)
18. Tu Mi Delirio (Astrud Gilberto) (3:39)
19. It's Easy To Say Goodbye (2:00)
20. Moondreams (2:28)
21. One Of The Nicer Things (3:07)
22. Proton, Electron, Neutron (2:44)
23. Rain (3:46)
24. Jackie, All (3:30)
25. L'amore Dice Ciao (2:39)
26. Cry Out Your Sadness (2:44)
27. Mirror Of Love (2:43)
28. It's A Lovely Day Today (Astrud Gilberto) (2:40)
29. Cried, Cried (2:22)
30. Here's That Rainy Day (Astrud Gilberto) (2:44)
31. Beloved Melancholy (2:39)
32. A Certain Sadness (Astrud Gilberto) (3:07)
33. Asa Branca (4:29)
34. 5-30 Plane (3:40)

Walter Wanderley was a talented and gifted organist with an acute ear for new harmonies. With 46 recorded solo albums in his entire career, both in Brazil and the U.S., he reached number 26 on the Billboard pop charts in September 1966, opening a large pathway of success only menaced by himself and his complex character. Ten years after his death from cancer, with a new fad coming, he was repackaged by the entertainment industry as a mere lounge player, carrying his record sales even further and sending the cost of his out-of-print albums to the stratosphere, but all at the cost of minimizing his significance. It is forgotten that the time lag worked against him and what today is lounge music was then innovative and revolutionary. With all those fans of samba-canção divas feeling personally insulted by those percussive rhythms reminiscent of a Brazilian black tradition that was not dear to the average Brazilian, it has to be stressed that the bossa nova movement, and Wanderley within it, had the role of affirming Brazilian identity in a broader cultural industry which was developed out of the folkloric redoubts. In fact, he also has an upbeat production full of that energy provided by his distinctive staccato stuttering style, immediately reminiscent of authentic Brazilian rhythmic and percussive impetus. He also improvised extended melodic solos without reheated licks, but that was obviously also left out of his most popular albums.

At five, he was already playing the piano. At 12, he attended the Licee of Arts for a year of theory classes, later studying harmony and arranging. Beginning his professional career while still in Recife, a most lively city with a vibrant cultural life, he worked every night either at the piano or at the organ. At 26, in 1958, he moved to São Paulo and immediately became an active player in nightclubs such as the Claridge, the Captain's Bar, and Oásis. Wanderley's first recording was in August 1959 for Odeon, with Carlos Lyra's "Lobo Bobo." Backing his wife, Brazilian singer Isaurinha Garcia (with whom he had a daughter, Monica), he recorded for the second time one month later. At that time, he was Garcia's accompanist and arranger. He would record another six LPs accompanying Garcia and another 19 solo albums in Brazil for several labels; he was left out of some of the credits because of his contract with Philips. Wanderley became known on the artistic scene for recording young artists, like Marcos Valle, Tom Jobim, João Donato, and others, until then with no expression out of the little nightclubs in which they performed on a nightly basis. But as the tunes and arrangements were fun to dance to, the albums sold very well. João Gilberto's João Gilberto (later reissued as O Mito in Brazil and as The Legendary João Gilberto in the U.S. in 1990 by World Pacific) from 1961 also had Walter in it. An impatient Wanderley then bent under Gilberto's oppressive, meticulous direction on March 10. That was the third album Gilberto was recording for Odeon and would be the last. Until then, Gilberto had Tom Jobim as pianist and Aluísio de Oliveira as producer. In spite of his frequent discussions with de Oliveira, the producer was the person who mediated Gilberto's hard relationship with Jobim. But de Oliveira had left Odeon the previous September, and Jobim didn't want to be scheduled for that recording. Gilberto, not knowing how to write music, insisted on expressing his musical vision of overall arrangements by singing, and that not only included the tones themselves, but the expression, timbre, and articulation. This drove Wanderley mad, especially with a certain sound effect of a boat's siren for "O Barquinho" ("Little Boat"), which was never good enough for Gilberto. The next day, Gilberto interrupted the recording of that album, only resuming it five months later with Jobim as musical director. Wanderley went on with his career and life, beginning an association with singer Claudette Soares in 1963, as an arranger and accompanist. His marriage was broken at this period. He also recorded for several renowned Brazilian singers in that time, among them Dóris Monteiro and Geraldo Vandré. It was when Tony Bennett saw Wanderley during a Brazilian tour and was taken by his playing. He urged Wanderley to move to the U.S. and, he himself talked about him to Verve Records producer Creed Taylor, also giving Taylor some of Wanderley's albums. After some insistence, Taylor sent contracts for Wanderley and his trio to record a single. So in 1966, they recorded brothers Marcos and Paulo Sérgio Valle's "Samba de Verão" ("Summer Samba"). It was an instant success, with radio stations playing it four or five times per hour. In that same year, the LP Rain Forest came out, also selling very well and was certified platinum (one million units sold) in two years. The trio accompanied Astrud Gilberto on her A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness album, also in 1966. He would record six more solo LPs or singles for Verve until the next year, and ten more in his career in the U.S. He always sold well and had a full performing schedule, in which local presentations at the San Francisco area were interspersed with some tours to Mexico. He never did return to Brazil after moving to the U.S. and he went on with his life until death caught up with him. ~by Alvaro Neder

Now Playing Walter Wanderley

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The New Stan Getz Quartet - Getz Au Go-Go

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:08
Size: 89.6 MB
Styles: Bossa Nova, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1964/2007
Art: Front

[2:51] 1. Corcovado
[4:29] 2. It Might As Well Be Spring
[2:32] 3. Eu E Voco
[8:12] 4. Summertime
[1:04] 5. 6-Nix-Pix-Plix
[4:40] 6. Only Trust Your Heart
[3:46] 7. The Singing Song
[1:58] 8. The Telephone Song
[3:19] 9. One Note Samba
[6:11] 10. Here's That Rainy Day

Although the name Stan Getz (tenor sax) was initially synonymous with the West Coast cool scene during the mid-to-late 1950s, he likewise became a key component in the Bossa Nova craze of the early 1960s. Along with Astrud Gilberto (vocals), Getz scored a genre-defining hit with the "Girl From Ipanema," extracted from the equally lauded Getz/Gilberto (1963). While that platter primarily consists of duets between Getz and João Gilberto (guitar/vocals), it was truly serendipity that teamed Getz with João's wife Astrud, who claims to have never sung a note outside of her own home prior to the session that launched her career. Getz Au Go Go Featuring Astrud Gilberto (1964) was the second-to-last album that he would issue during his self-proclaimed "Bossa Nova Era" -- the final being Getz/Gilberto #2 [Live] (1964) concert title from Carnegie Hall. In many ways, that is a logical successor to this one, as both include the "New Stan Getz Quartet." The band features a young Gary Burton (vibraphone), Kenny Burrell (guitar), Gene Cherico (bass), and Joe Hunt (drums). As is typical with jazz, there are a few personnel substitutions, with Helcio Milito (drums) and Chuck Israels (bass), respectively, filling in on nearly half the effort. As the name of the disc intimates, this recording hails from the venerable Greenwich Village venue, the Café Au Go Go, in mid-August of 1964 -- two months after "Girl From Ipanema" became a Top Five pop single. However, the focus of Getz Au Go Go steers away from the Brazilian flavored fare, bringing Astrud Gilberto into the realm of a decidedly more North American style. That said, there are a few Antonio Carlos Jobim compositions -- "Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)" and "One Note Samba" -- both of which would be considered as jazz standards in years to follow -- as well as the lesser-circulated "Eu E Voce." Getz and crew gather behind Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's "It Might as Well Be Spring," and the scintillating instrumental "Summertime," from Porgy & Bess. Other equally engaging cuts include affective vocal readings of "Only Trust Your Heart," and the diminutive, yet catchy "Telephone Song." There is also some great interaction between Getz and Burton on "Here's to That Rainy Day." Getz Au Go Go is highly recommended for all dimensions of jazz enthusiasts. ~Lindsay Planer

Getz Au Go-Go

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