1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die - #41. Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto – Getz / Gilberto (1963)

Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto – Getz / Gilberto (1963)

Label - Verve
Producer – Creed Taylor
Art Direction - Uncredited
Nationality – Brazil / USA
Running Time – 34:02

Track Listing (standout tracks listed in bold)

1. Girl From Ipanema
2. Doralice
3. Para Machuchar Meu Coracao
4. Desafinado
5. Corcovado (Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars)
6. So Danco Samba
7. O Grande Amor
8. Vivo Sonhando (Dreamer)

Fresh from a holiday/medical break I’m back with some more reviews.
You learn a lot when you read about albums and artists that you never have heard of before. I did not know that this record was one of the biggest-selling jazz albums of all time, and considered to be bossa nova's finest moment! It does include one of the biggest smash hit singles in jazz history (and the ONLY track I had heard prior to spinning this record) "The Girl From Ipanema,". It’s a Jobim classic sung by João's wife, Astrud Gilberto, who as it turns out had never performed outside of her own home prior to the recording session!!
To ME – it’s really hard to distinguish one song from the other as they are all so close in style and feel and after a while it just became background music for my drive! And while pleasing in a way – that’s not a good statement to make about a record. To be fair, most of the lyrics are in Portuguese which I cannot understand a word of! The two tracks I listed in bold as standout tracks are the only ones with any English sung in them – which is probably why they stood out for me! So while frankly, there isn't much to really criticise here, I do not recommend it.



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