Getz/Gilberto Super-Audio CD

This is a Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players.

The record that started the bossa nova craze of the mid-'60s, GETZ-GILBERTO is a justly recognized classic. The disc's success is attributable to its spectacular personnel: the man who basically invented bossa nova, Antonio Carlos Jobim; the man who defined and perfected the genre, Joao Gilberto; his charmingly waifish-sounding wife, Astrud Gilberto; and American tenor saxophonist extraordinaire Stan Getz. Jobim plays guitar and piano; Getz provides remarkably lyrical, complementary lead lines, and Joao Gilberto plays and sings in Portuguese with the most understated, romantic, and artful vocal delivery imaginable. It's a hard combination to beat.

Opening track "The Girl From Ipanema," a breezy, infectious Jobim composition with vocals by both Joao and Astrud, became one of the biggest (and most recognizable) hits of the era, and the single most popular Brazilian tune in America. The exquisite shuffle "Desafinado," the Joao-Astrud duet "Corcovado," and the eminently grooving "So Danco Samba" have gone on to become standards of both bossa nova and jazz, and the versions here are definitive. Getz's sensitive playing blends seamlessly with the deceptively casual rhythmic sophistication of Jobim, Gilberto, and percussionist Milton Banana. The material, the musicianship, and the gentle, minimal arrangements and production ensure that GETZ/GILBERTO will never date, age, or tire. It's a perfect album.

One of the biggest-selling jazz albums of all time, not to mention bossa nova's finest moment, Getz/Gilberto trumped Jazz Samba by bringing two of bossa nova's greatest innovators -- guitarist/singer Joao Gilberto and composer/pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim -- to New York to record with Stan Getz. The results were magic. Ever since Jazz Samba, the jazz marketplace had been flooded with bossa nova albums, and the overexposure was beginning to make the music seem like a fad. Getz/Gilberto made bossa nova a permanent part of the jazz landscape not just with its unassailable beauty, but with one of the biggest smash hit singles in jazz history -- "The Girl from Ipanema," a Jobim classic sung by Joao's wife, Astrud Gilberto, who had never performed outside of her own home prior to the recording session. Beyond that, most of the Jobim songs recorded here also became standards of the genre: "Corcovado" (which featured another vocal by Astrud), "So Danço Samba," "O Grande Amor," and a new version of "Desafinado." With such uniformly brilliant material, it's no wonder the album was such a success but, even apart from that, the musicians all play with an effortless grace that's arguably the fullest expression of bossa nova's dreamy romanticism ever brought to American listeners. Getz himself has never been more lyrical, and Gilberto and Jobim pull off the harmonic and rhythmic sophistication of the songs with a warm, relaxed charm. This music has nearly universal appeal; it's one of those rare jazz records about which the purist elite and the buying public are in total agreement. Beyond essential. [This edition of the album is presented in SACD format.] ~ Steve Huey

Personnel: Stan Getz (tenor saxophone); Joao Gilberto (vocals, guitar); Astrud Gilberto (vocals); Antonio Carlos Jobim (piano); Milton Banana (drums).

Liner Note Authors: Gene Lees; Joao Gilberto; Stan Getz; Astrud Gilberto; Doug Ramsey.

Recording information: A&R Studios, New York, NY (03/18/1963/03/19/1963).

Editor: Peter Pullman.Down Beat (9/97, p.54) - 4 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...[the] 20-bit digital remastering...gives the breezy Brazilian lilt added warmth..."
JazzTimes (11/94, pp.88-89) - "...essential for all serious jazz collections...served as proof that it is possible for music to be both artistically and commercially successful...this relatively sparse setting with the great Getz perfectly fit the music, resulting in a true gem..."
Vibe (12/99, p.158) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century