Astrud Gilberto

Mention the name Gilberto and Bossa Nova immediately comes to mind. Astrud was the original 'Girl from Ipanema' (composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes), famously singing the iconic hit song first featured on the classic 1963 album Getz/Gilberto. Released by Verve Records as a single in May 1964, Girl from Ipanema won a Grammy and established Astrud as a hot new commodity on the music scene. She also sang a second number on the album: 'Corcovado' ("Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars"). She was born Astrud Evangelina Weinert in Salvador, in the province of Bahia. Her mother was Evangelina Neves Lobo Weinert who sang and played both violin and a traditional instrument, called a bandolim. Her German-born father Fritz was a language teacher. Through him, Astrud soon became fluent in English, French, Italian, Spanish and Japanese. In 1959,19-year old Astrud married the guitarist, vocalist and composer João Gilberto, who is credited as the inventor of Bossa Nova, a music genre fusing elements of traditional Brazilian samba with jazz. In this endeavour, he collaborated with the composer, songwriter, arranger and guitarist Antonio Carlos Jobim. Before long, the mellow sound of Bossa Nova found its popularity in the U.S. via exponents like jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd and saxophonist Stan Getz. Astrud went on to sing her signature number in the MGM musical Get Yourself a College Girl (1964), which also featured The Dave Clark Five and The Animals . In 1965 and 1966, Astrud released her first trio of solo albums, featuring classic songs like 'Agua de Beber', Johnny Mandel 's 'The Shadow of your Smile', 'Tristeza', 'Fly Me to the Moon', 'Manhã de Carnaval' and 'Felicidade'. As her fame grew, she toured the U.S. with Stan Getz, including a famous gig at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village. By this time, she had become a single mother, divorced from her husband. Astrud was later to rue her association with Getz, not just because he was difficult to get on with. Much to her chagrin, Getz and record producer Creed Taylor also both laid exclusive claim to her 'discovery'. Moreover, Astrud received no credit on the original vinyl LP Getz/Gilberto, being merely paid the trifling sum of $120 for the session. Getz reaped the lion's share of profits from the album and denied the singer her fair share of the royalties. That despite the fact that 'Girl from Ipanema' ended up becoming one of the most widely recorded songs in popular music. Bryan McCann, professor of Brazilian history and author of a 2019 book, commented that "It was Astrud Gilberto who made the album a smash hit.Astrud provided the ineffable allure that made the album irresistible." Some of her later partnerships proved rather more felicitous, notably a jazz album with Gil Evans and a collaboration in 1977 with trumpet player and singer Chet Baker on one of her own songs, 'Far Away'. In 1996, Astrud performed Jobim's beautiful number 'Desafinado' with George Michael for the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Rio. In 2002 she was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame. For all intents and purposes, Astrud left the music scene in the early 2000's, spending her retirement in Philadelphia, away from publicity, studying philosophy, painting and becoming a powerful voice against cruelty to animals.