Joao Gilberto Music

I have many many Stan Getz cds. I treasure this box set since 1990 I guess the year that I bought it. I know it by memory now, but nevertheless it always sounds fresh and superb. The quality of the music contained here can't be underestimated maybe only because it had success (something that jazz purist often do, critizise a music only because it sold big numbers). This music is something that words can't do justice. The encounter between Stan Getz and bossa nova and its artists was made in Heaven. Here superlatives are not enough believe us (believe to me and to all the other enthusiastic reviewers). It's a music so beautiful, so perfect that it flows with a divine smoothness. This music seems easy to uneducated people and they may even appreciate it just because it sounds so "simple". But it seems easy only because the musicians who played this music, Stan first, are unbelievable, superb artists. This music is amazing and really, can't change the face of a lot of your days. A lot of people allready told you what you can find here. Everything Stan recorded in bossa fashion. I only want to say that this box has inside itself a lot of happiness that the amazing music Stan and the others who played it will give you for years and years to come. Think about this, money are only paper. This box will send you shivers down your spine for years and will be a pure emotion each time you'll listen to it. What would you choose .. to have a bigger wallet or to be a happier person? I'd pay probably 1000 dollars for this music if it would be the only way to own it.

I've had a copy of this wonderful collection in my possesion in one form or another for the last thirteen years. Once I finally threw out the tattered cassettes, I moved on to this four CD set. I can't praise it enough. It's not just the well known favorites like Girl From Ipanema or Desafinado, but the whole anthology. From the quiet tones of Corcovado to Stan's incredile blowing on So Danco Samba, there's something great on nearly every track. I'm only 31 and I've introduced this CD to the boom box on many occasions around my friends more accustomed to Pearl Jam or old Ozzy and the reaction has always been the same; "Is this elevator music?" But soon they hear the same passionate soul that nearly knocked the Beatles off the top of the charts in the mid '60s (read Phil Schaap's liner notes!) and realize that there's something special here and begin to really enjoy it. It's a warm Summer barbecue or any time you need to kick up your feet after a hard day at work with a cold drink. This is something with which to either complete or begin your samba collection.

There is a line here sung by Astrud Gilberto (from an American song, but never mind) - 'I feel so gay in a melancholy way' - that sums up for me the eternal appeal of bossa nova: beach music cooled with sadness that somehow seizes your tired soul, making it feel warm and happy.

This remarkable set - which, along with 'the Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook', is the only CD I intend to take to my desert island - contains the five prodigious bossa nova albums recorded by Stan Getz in the early 60s: 'Jazz Samba' (the still sparkle-fresh collaboration with Charlie Byrd that introduced bossa nova to the world); 'Big Band Bossa Nova' (a not always successful attempt to combine two mutually exclusive forms, but featuring two epic classics, 'Manha de Carnival' and 'Chega Suadade'); 'Jazz Samba Encore' (an otherworldly masterpiece with Luiz 'Black Orpheus' Bonfa and singer Maria Toldo); 'Getz/Gilberto' (my own treasured favourite, a matchless meeting of four great talents, Getz, Jobim, Joao and Astrud Gilberto) and 'Getz/Almeida' (a rigorous, last gasp jazz workout).

All the great classics are here - 'Desafinado' (will anyone ever spell this right?), 'Insensatez' (swoon), 'O Morro Nao Tem Vez', 'One note samba', 'The girl from Ipanema', 'Corcovado' etc. (you'll know them all even if you think you don't) - together with some less familiar delights. What is perhaps most exceptional is the way Getz adapts like a chameleon to the very different needs of his various collaborators, and yet still retains the distinctive, emotional sax genius we know and love.

There are some extra tracks included as well, including Getz's only collaboration with Baden-Powell, some live numbers with the Gilbertos, and an absolutely blissful, happysad 'It might as well be spring', the only track I've ever heard that actually DOES sound like spring.

Ran into this a couple years ago at the public library and hit the Bossa Nova mother lode. Realized that it would make a perfect gift and serendipitously found it on special sale. Should've bought all the copies I could!

This has to be one of the best box sets ever, both from a musical and an archival point of view. Since the other reviewers have described so well the contents of this collection, I only want to exhort you, the prospective buyer, to keep a sharp eye out for an opportunity to grab it at a favorable price.

In the meantime, let's hope Verve prints more copies. This is music that will never go out of style.

After having having foolishly traded away my vinyl copy, (origianlly released on 5 LP's) I was delighted to find this CD reissue. This is the only place to find Getz's entire Verve output of Samba and Bosa Nova recordings. The first disc is comprised of Getz's collaboration with the late great Jazz/Samba guitarist, Charlie Byrd and contains the classic Antonio Carlos Jobim compostion, Desafino. Disc two finds Getz in the company of Brizil's premier Samba vocalist Joao Gilberto. The combination of Getz's velvety smooth tenor and Gilberto's elegantly cool vocal stylings makes for an astonishing match made in Samba Heaven. Songs from this historic pairing include the highly recognizable The Girl From Impanema and the hypnotic Samba De Uma Nota So, (One Note Samba).

Disc three covers the Getz/Astrid Gilberto hits and includes the lovely Corcovado and It Might As Well Be Spring as well as the enormous international hit, The Girl From Impanema, (not to be confused with the Getz/Joao Gilberto version). This is the recording that put Bosa Nova on the map and caused a huge sensation from Brazil to Japan and all stops in between. As undeniably the biggest hit ever to come out of South America, The Girl From Impenema has been recorded by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Ella Fitzgerald. The many other highlights found here include Getz in the company of an allstar jazz lineup on the Big Band Bosa Nova sides. While this may be too much material for the casual fan to digest, I suggest you begin with the Getz/Joao Gilberto album. If you find yourself hooked and yearning for more, go directly to this anthology it's worth the time and money.

That was a long time ago when I first listened to it when LP reigns supreme and I was knocked out by the soft lyrical melodies created in this collaboration by Bethania, Gil, Gilberto and Veloso. I was already a Sergio Mendez fan and later a Jobim admirer and it never occured to me I would meet 4 more Brazilian greats in just one album! I never heard it played in the airwaves where I come from but my record player was constantly playing it. Fasttrack to the CD age (late 90's maybe): I always wanted to have that album in CD form and when finally I saw it in a small CD shop in Singapore, I was just ecstatic! It was just like finding something very valuable that was lost. "All of Me" (Disse Alguiem)- I thought would never be improvized but their version might be even be better than the original (you don't have to know Portuguese to understand the song). What pure joy to listen to these tracts that was made more than 3 decades ago!

This is one of the most lovely records made by bossa nova legend Joao Gilberto, a rich, gentle meditation made with the cooperation of three legendary pop artists -- Maria Bethania, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso -- who represented a younger generation of musical pioneers that looked back at Joao with love and admiration. It is one of the finest albums to come out of the "MPB" (popular Brazilian music) scene of the 1970s and early '80s, a simply gorgeous, lavish exploration of some of the softest sounds imaginable. Just wonderful. (DJ Joe Sixpack)