João Gilberto and the dawn of Bossa Nova

I heard João Gilberto’s version of “Chega de Saudade” for the first time at Radio Jornal do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro. I was 12-13 years old. At that time, I was used to hearing a lot of Jazz, a few Brazilian singers, and musicians. The song itself was not that new. I had heard it before sang by Elizeth Cardoso, one of the dames of the Brazilian music of the time. Latter I somehow got to know that João was the guitar player in Elizeth’s recording. But I was shocked by the tenderness, the minimalism and, to be true, the orchestra that was behind him. I thought it was overkill compared to João’s voice…

But even polluted by the big orchestra, João sounded for my untrained young ears like nothing I have ever heard before. Seems that there were three guys in one person. One playing the grove of the song, the other playing the bass lines, and the last one singing. I had heard something similar in Dave Brubeck’s albums, “Take Five” for instance. But they were four different guys… I bought the record.

I heard it maybe 20 times before understanding that the simplicity of his singing was not so simple. Unlike almost all singers of that time, he didn’t use vibrato in his singing. He was used to stretching out the sentences of the lyrics to an almost unbearable degree for the listener. Inversely, he obliterated verses singing them partially, skipping words… The way he played a six-string classical guitar was absolutely fresh.

But how dare would I be to question arrangements by Tom Jobim, Claus Ogerman…among others. I might be wrong. When I began researching João Gilberto to write this post, I found a publication by Fred Thomas on Aquarium Drunkard. His article touches the very point I had always thought about João and his recordings, including the Stan Getz stuff that made Bossa Nova knew worldwide: it was too much polluted to be enjoyed…

Fred Thomas wrote exactly what I would like to have written.. So I encourage you to read his article in the link below:

On João Gilberto

I tried also to illustrate in a Spotify playlist what both Fred Thomas and myself had in mind complaining about the arrangements of most of João’s recordings. In the link below, there are examples of what João called “the simple truth”. João, his guitar, and little else. Get your headphones and enjoy. If you are in a hurry, get back another time.