Gilberto, João << zhoo BAIRT, zhoo WOW >> (1931-2019), was a Brazilian musician, singer, and songwriter. Gilberto was a pioneer of the music style bossa nova in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Bossa nova is Brazilian Portuguese slang for new style or new wave. Bossa nova music blends the melodies and rhythms of Brazilian samba with the improvisations and harmonies of American jazz. Gilberto’s 1963 recording “The Girl from Ipanema” (with the American saxophonist Stan Getz) helped to popularize bossa nova worldwide. Gilberto is often called the father of bossa nova. In Brazil, he is known by the nickname O Mito (The Legend).
João Gilberto do Prado Pereira de Oliveira was born on June 10, 1931, in Juázeiro, in northeastern Bahia state. He began playing guitar at age 14 and formed his first band, Enamorados do Ritmo (Rhythm Lovers), shortly thereafter. Gilberto moved to the Bahian capital, Salvador, in 1949 and began singing at the Radio Society of Bahia. In 1950, he moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he briefly performed with the band Os Garotos da Lua (The Boys of the Moon). In 1957, Gilberto began working with fellow bossa nova pioneers Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes.
In 1958, Gilberto played guitar on what is considered the first bossa nova record album, Canção do Amor Demais (Song of Too Much Love) by the Brazilian star Elizete Cardoso. Gilberto’s solo recording of a song from that album, “Chega de Saudade” (recorded in English as “No More Blues”), became the first bossa nova hit single. In 1959, the music of de Moraes, Gilberto, and Jobim was featured in the classic motion picture Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus). In 1962, Getz, Gilberto, Jobim, and other performers played a concert at New York City’s Carnegie Hall that further increased the popularity of bossa nova.
Also in 1962, Gilberto moved to the United States. There, he worked with Getz, Jobim, and the singer Astrud Gilberto (his wife at the time), to record the hit album Getz/Gilberto (1963). At the 1965 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Getz/Gilberto became the first jazz recording to win Album of the Year. “The Girl from Ipanema,” the album’s most famous song, was named Record of the Year. Gilberto toured worldwide and performed at Carnegie Hall several times in the late 1960’s and the 1970’s. His popular albums of this period include João Gilberto (1973) and Amoroso (Full of Love, 1977).
In 1980, Gilberto returned to Brazil, where he continued to tour and record albums. He won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album for his final studio recording, João Voz e Violão (João Voice and Guitar, 2000). Gilberto died in Rio de Janeiro on July 6, 2019.
