Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, I smile but she doesn’t see
She just doesn’t see, no she doesn’t see
The stanza comes from The Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema), a well-known bossa nova song. It became a worldwide hit in the mid-’60s and won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. The song was written in 1962 with music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. The English lyrics were written later by Norman Gimbel. One of the many artists who performed the song is Astrud Gilberto, the Brazilian singer best known for her samba and bossa nova music.
The Girl from Ipanema is a true story inspired by Heloisa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto (now Helo Pinheiro), a 15-year-old girl who lived on Montenegro Street in the stylish Ipanema district of Rio de Janeiro. Every day the girl strolled several times past the famous Veloso Bar-Café attracting the attention of Jobim and Moraes as they sat inside the bar during the winter of 1962. Well, it is not surprising why Jobim and Moraes noticed Helo — she was 5’8” tall with green eyes and long, flowing black hair. She was always the object of adulation among the patrons of Veloso Bar at that time. Helo soon became famous after the song gained popularity.
The current rage in the local pop music scene right now is bossa nova. The mainstream resurgence of bossa nova has created a trend among our artists and recording companies. The refreshing voices of Sitti, Sofia, Pavi, and the country’s premier vocal group, The CompanY, are contained in their individual bossa nova albums.
Bossa nova’s musical style evolved from samba. The music emerged in small clubs and apartments on the beachfront district of Rio’s south zone. Bossa nova is intimate, soft, and controlled. Bossa nova is commonly performed on the nylon-string classical guitar played with the fingers rather than with a pick. Other typical instruments such as the piano, electronic organ, acoustic bass, and drums are also used.
Brazilian author Ruy Castro wrote in his book Bossa Nova that “bossa” was already in use during the ’50s by musicians as a word to describe someone’s knack for playing or singing idiosyncratically. The term is used to refer to any new “trend” or “fashionable wave” within the artistic beach culture of the late ’50s in Rio de Janeiro. The word “bossa” is still used in Brazil to refer to “style” or “flair” as it was in the days when bossa nova was newly created.
Bossa nova was spearheaded by Vinicius de Moraes, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Joao Gilberto. Bossa nova was first introduced in 1958 with singer Elizete Cardoso’s recording of Chega de Saudade on the Concao do Amor Demais LP. The album consists of compositions by Vinicius, Jobim, and Gilberto’s two songs. Its release marked the beginning of their successful musical career. Here are some of the pillars of bossa nova:
Antönio Carlos Jobim, known as Tom Jobim, is a Brazilian composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist. His compositions, famous for its exquisite melodies and harmonies, are performed in Brazil and abroad. His successful team-up with Vinicius de Moraes started when they provided the music for the play Orfeu de Conceicao in 1956. Vinicius then went on to write the lyrics to some of Jobim’s most popular songs. Jobim is buried at the Cemitério Sao Joao Batista in Rio de Janeiro was named in his honor.
Vinicius de Moraes is a poet who wrote the lyrics of many songs that became all-time classics. He is also a composer, playwright, diplomat, and interpreter of his own songs. He was introduced to Tom Jobim during the production of Orfeu de Conceicao. His songs with Jobim were recorded by numerous Brazilian singers including Joao Gilberto. Vinicius is buried at the Cemitério Sao Joao Batista in Rio de Janeiro.
Joao Gilberto is a self-taught Brazilian guitarist- vocalist who eschewed all musical accompaniments except his guitar which he used as percussive and harmonic instrument. His version of Chega de Saudade became a big hit and catapulted his career and the bossa nova music. In 1962, bossa nova became popular among North American jazz musicians like Stan Getz who invited Gilberto and Jobim to collaborate in Getz/Gilberto, one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time. Through this album, Astrud Gilberto, Joao’s former wife, turned into an international star and the Jobim/de Moraes composition The Girl from Ipanema became a worldwide pop music standard.
The initial releases of Joao Gilberto and the 1959 movie Black Orpheus brought bossa nova added popularity in Brazil and in Latin and North America. The recordings of Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz cemented bossa nova’s fame while the 1963 Getz/Gilberto album, and the various recordings of famous jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald led to the permanent establishment of bossa nova in world music.
The CompanY’s Destination: Bossa
The CompanY takes a musical voyage exploring the varied rhythms, textures, and moods of Brazilian music with Destination: Bossa. It is the vocal group’s 17th and latest album. Featured songs are Goodbye Sadness (Tristeza); James Taylor’s Your Smiling Face; The Police’s Every Little Thing (He) Does Is Magic; Seals and Crofts’ ’70s hit Summer Breeze; Donna Summer hit Whispering Waves; Madonna’s La Isla Bonita; OPM classic Bato Sa Buhangin by Ernani Cuenco and Snaffu Rigor; and The Beatles’ Here Comes The Sun.
Destination: Bossa is released under Viva Records.