The Official Joao Gilberto thread

I can't believe there isn't ONE Joao Gilberto thread so I'm starting one.


I am listening to the Live at Montreux (recorded 1985 released 1986) double LP Brazilian issue... sounds like typical Joao.. just him and his guitar..

He is still alive by the way.. .although I'm not sure he plays live anymore.. I was fortunate to see him in Carnegie Hall about 5 years back. took the bus up there for the show...

Most influential figure in Bossa Nova? I'd say so...Most Americans know him from the Getz-Gilberto album.

It kills me I'm still missing his 1973 album but I want it on LP and haven't been able to get it....I probably have the MP3 files somewhere though...


I find his music very soothing...

 

Good idea for a thread!

His first three seminal Bossa Nova albums are now public-domain releases on él/Cherry Red Records.

The artist and record companies had *50 YEARS* to either make money off of these or, unable to come to an agreement, sit on them and do nothing.

They are now ours. And they are GREAT! The music that started it all...

 

This CD is one of the prizes of my music collection:

 

All of those songs are now finally available in their original order:

 

Joao Gilberto is in his 80s now, and did some concerts last year in Brazil.Problems with him are his mental health, when I was in Brazil there were lots of stories about his behaviour, he is a very depressive guy and many times has canceled shows at the last moment.
Funny stories about him when he composed "o pato" (the duck), and he was sitting with his guitar on the stairs of his building, trying to imitate the duck.
Anyway, i love him !

 

Absaloodle love his stuff, so easy to listen to. A true Icon

 

He's as important as Elvis, Dylan or the Beatles. One of the major musical innovators of the 20th century. I'm amazed you don't have the '73 album, Serge! It was also pressed in europe and was available in the 80s on reissue as well. I'm sure if you looked hard you'd find one. The original cd pressing and the latest Japanese reissue sound quite different.
His 'Mexico' album is great as well, that's been reissued in some horrible looking covers but the music is lovely, but it'd be nice if they could source the original tapes.
The El reissues above are sourced from the World Pacific compilation, with modern reverb and all.
Here are some of my Joao LPs. The UK Parlophone is quite rare, was also a New Zealand collection issued in the 60s!

 

I also have a prized CD "O Mito", but as I recall, JG was very unhappy about this comp. What was he unhappy about?

 

I'm amazed I don' have the 73 album.. I will be taking care of that very soon!...

I found his first one, Chega, in the original pressing for $1.. one of my best scores! Actually have his first three in their original Brazilian issues...

Joao was definitely very fussy about the sound at Carnegie....I do remember that clearly..


The Mexico album is one of my favorites...


This is the show I saw..guess it was almost 8 years ago! really meant the world to me:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/21/a...sa-nova-meets-technical.html?ref=joaogilberto

 

Are there any books or websites that go into this at all? I have always been curious about him.

I saw him in Boston a few years ago and he was in fine form. He even signed a guitar for me after the show.

 

Well I can easily reassemble the original albums if I want to so that's not a big deal to me.

More interesting is sound quality: how is it on the recent El CD reissues you show the pics for? The World Pacific disc I have was very nicely mastered, by Ron McMaster back in the era (I believe 1990) when he had a very neutral style. I just relistened to the World Pacific disc last night again after this thread started, and it sounds excellent - hard to imagine much of an improvement could be had, but perhaps - I wonder if anyone has compared.

The new bonus material the El reissues add (in reading about them) doesn't seem essential to me - e.g. includes stuff by other artists loosely affiliated with Gilberto.

 

More important than all three in my musical universe.

I had a rare opportunity to see him live many years ago. I was broke, it was the dead of winter and on a weeknight. Kicking myself ever since.

 

Two books are essentials, but I don't know if they've been translated to english:

- "Chega de Saudade, a historia e as historias da Bossa Nova", by Ruy Castro.
Very fun, lots of anecdotes, a travel in the Rio de Janeiro of the late 50s early 60s.

- "Bim Bom, a contradiçao sem conflitos de Joao Gilberto", by Walter Garcia, you'll learn a lot about how it all begun.

 

The Castro book is indeed in English simply under the title "Bossa Nova."

 

My wife and I saw him at Carnegie Hall in NY about ten years ago. The concert started at least an hour and a half late. Various reasons circulated for his absence. An announcement came over the PA encouraging the audience not to leave, because "Joao is Joao." Once he did show up, he sat down and sang and played for two hours straight. A captivating evening.

 

The title of this LP is very apt!

 

The sound quality is most likely very similar as the él versions are most likely sourced from the World Pacific CDs (which I've never heard).

I've also never heard the original vinyl releases, but supposedly our World Pacific/él versions have been highly processed. For example, the first album is in fake stereo with added reverb.

 

there is apparently a new reissue of joao gilberto 73 on a german label klimt.. supposedly limited to 1000 copies ..embossed sleeve..... not cheap when you factor in shipping- $42.35- and i have heard nothing of quality or source...I think its a very recent issue. I have purchased a copy and will post when I get it (could take a while).. In a way I'm sorry to have to buy the reissue as I want an original copy so this means I'll probably have to rebuy it in the future...oh well.. I've lived long enough without it.

for some reason 73 is the toughest joao gilberto album to find on vinyl...one has to wonder did it just not sell even in brazil? usually the brazilian dealers on ebay will have everything. at the same time , on rate your music it seems to be joao's most "popular" album...

 

A genius! One of the few that can sing words faster than most of us can pronounce them and still make it sound extremely calming.

 

Serge,

Tanx for your marvelous thread. João Gilberto is a true living icon of our
musical heritage here in Brazil. Thanks of his work we had the wonderful
music of Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Bless you

 

As far as I know there's only one World Pacific CD - it collects all 3 albums - it's the one for which I posted the cover art above.

You're right that on that CD the first album is fake stereo - not ideal but it is not as offensive sounding as I usually find that kind of thing - to be honest, I actually didn't even notice until I read the liners. For me it's a nice "one and done" option - sound is more than good enough to allow the brilliance of the music to shine through, and I don't feel a need to have all the bonus material.

 

I don't know if it is imprint in the US?
It was hard to find for me here in Europe, but not long ago I found an (official) online import from EMI Korea, where it seems to be in print. Looks very nice and wasn't expensive...
Just in case anyone wants to know.
But I thought there is one song missing from one of the albums?

Martin

 

The producers of the cd edited a couple of tracks and there is a missing song from the ep which is part of the track list. The royalties were an issue with Joao, the production of the collection via 'World Pacific' was an issue, some sort of legal problem there. It has been mentioned over the years that Joao had a problem with the sound. This may be the phoney stereo and reverb that is on some of the tracks. The 'O Mito' collection released in Brazil may have been sanctioned by Joao, I'm not sure. The WP collection was also released via Time Life in Spain and you can pick copies of this up for cheaper than the WP version. It's a digital clone.

The '73 album was last pressed through Polydor by Verve in 1989/90. I may be wrong but I vaguely remember seeing a US pressing of this at the time. Anyone have one?
The LP Joao did with Caetano, Maria and Gil is undervalued I feel. I really like the vibe on this one and it's nice to see Joao working with some of the 2nd generation Brazilian bossa/MPB musicians. Joao also appears on a couple of Maria Bethania's solo albums. I'll dig them out.

 

I have an early 60s US Atlantic mono white label promo of the first album. (retitled The Warm World of Joao Gilberto). The sound is much better than the CDs.

Never found a playable original Brazilian pressing of Chega de Saudade. Am I missing something, audio wise?

 

I thinks so, yes. The brazilian Odeon pressings can be very good. Remember the albums were in print for many years. I know of at least 4 label variations up to the early/mid 70s. So nice pressings can be found. I've had copies of both the Capitol and Atlantic US releases of Joao's Odeon stuff and it's fine if you stick with the monos. Capitol did a bit more EQ wise from memory.