The daughter of a Brazilian mother and a German father, Gilberto was raised in Rio de Janeiro and moved to the USA in the early 1960s. In her mid-teens, she became part of (her own words) a "musical clan" when she met João Gilberto, whom she described as the clan's musical "guru". She married him a few months later, in 1959. She frequently sang duets with him, or sang while he accompanied her on guitar, and he acted as her musical tutor. She also sang publicly with her husband in a concert at the Rio de Janeiro Faculty of Architecture, but did not sing professionally at that time.
The couple moved to the United States in 1963, where she performed on the influential Getz/Gilberto album with João Gilberto, Stan Getz and Antonio Carlos Jobim. While rehearsing "The Girl from Ipanema", João asked her to sing a verse in English, and then persuaded Getz to include this in the final recording. Getz agreed, and Astrud's professional career began. After the recording Getz told Astrud it would make her famous, and was proved correct.
In the mid-1960s the couple divorced.
The success of Gilberto's vocal work on the song "The Girl from Ipanema" quickly turned her into a jazz star, and soon she started recording solo. She started as an interpreter of Brazilian bossa nova and American jazz standards, but started recording her own compositions in the 1970s.
Gilberto's recordings exposed the nations of the World to the sensuality of Brazilian music and to her unique vocal interpretations of American music, such as "The Shadow of your Smile", "It Might as well be Spring", "Fly Me to the Moon", "Look to the Rainbow" (from her album of the same title, with Gil Evans), "Love Story", etc...
Following the hit with "Ipanema", her recording career quickly took off. Her first solo effort, "The Astrud Gilberto Album", was an immediate best-seller and was itself nominated as album of the year. Her next albums were all chart-toppers and were released on a yearly schedule. Her talents were much in demand in other areas as well as she appeared in two motion pictures, "The Hanged Man" and "Get Yourself a College Girl" and also recorded the soundtrack for "The Deadly Affair", arranged by Quincy Jones. She made appearances in all of the popular US television shows of the time, and had TV specials built around her in Europe, Japan and Africa. For many years she was the voice of Eastern Airlines, having recorded award-winning commercials.
In the early seventies, Gilberto revealed another facet of her talents, her songwriting, which was introduced on the albums "Astrud Gilberto Now" (1972) and "That Girl From Ipanema" (1977). On the "That Girl from Ipanema" album, Gilberto recorded one of her songs, "Far Away" (with lyrics by Hal Shaper), as a duet with the legendary Chet Baker. As she has revealed in interviews, this was one of the most rewarding events of her career, since Baker had been one of Gilberto's idols dating back to her teenage years. In 1976, one of her compositions, "Live Today" (co-written with Jerome Schur), received an award at the Tokyo Music Festival.
In the early eighties, Gilberto formed a group, a sextet comprised of piano, bass, drums, trombone, guitar and percussion. Her son, Marcelo Gilberto, joined her group as bassist. With this group format, she toured Europe, Japan, Canada, and the United States. With the aid of Marcelo's valuable musical contributions, she polished the group's arrangements and entered a different phase in her career, as her music became more diversified and her songwriting more proliferous. Her shows, from the beginning of her career up to her last public appearance (2001), have been usually sold out and at many venues she has broken the house record in attendance. Seeking for a way to overcome her stage fright, which was sometimes overwhelming, Gilberto attended the Stella Adler School of Acting, for a couple of years, in the early eighties. The experience was helpful. Although still shy, Gilberto learned to control the stage fright to the extent that she can "live with it".
Her album "Astrud Gilberto Plus The James Last Orchestra", released in 1987, solidified her career as songwriter. The album includes a few of her own original compositions of which "Champagne & Caviar", "Amor e Som" and "I'm nothing without you" (Astrud's lyrics to A.C. Jobim's melody) are best known. The release of this album combined with the reissuing of some of her early records as CDs has created a whole new generation of fans for Astrud Gilberto all over the world, in addition to her already large number of followers. The "Astrud Gilberto Plus the James Last Orchestra" album was extremely well received by critics, as well as fellow artists.
In 1990, Gilberto, along with her sons Marcelo Gilberto and Gregory Lasorsa, formed Gregmar Productions, Inc. In the years that followed, Gilberto toured extensively, developing her live show and writing new material.
In 1992, Gilberto received the "Latin Jazz USA Award for Lifetime Achievement" for her outstanding contribution to Latin jazz music.
In 1995, the first project by Gregmar studios was released on an album as tribute to Jobim on the label Ps Flag/BMG ("Heirs To Jobim"). The song, "Forever Green", one of Jobim's last compositions before passing away, features saxophonist Michael Brecker. In that same year, in a sold-out Thursday night appearance, Astrud Gilberto became the first "Jazz" Artist to sing at the trendy "House of Blues" in Los Angeles, which had until then presented Blues and Rock acts, exclusively. She has also broken house records at the very popular "Jazz Cafe" club in London.
In early 1996 the first album from Gregmar was released in the Asian territories, including Japan, on the Pony Canyon label. It is comprised of various live performances recorded in NYC in 1989, for which is called "Astrud Gilberto - Live in New York".
The "Desafinado" duet with George Michael, in the Fall of 1996 included on the "Red Hot & Rio" album, gained international attention, and exposed the Bossa Nova style to a large number of Pop music fans. "Desafinado" has also been included on George Michael's 1999 release "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Best of George Michael".
Also in 1996, Gilberto recorded a duet with the famous European vocalist, French Pop star, Ettienne Daho. The song, "Les Bordes de Seine", included on Daho's "Eden" album, was co-written by Daho and Gilberto and was particularly well received by "Hip-Hop" fans.
In late 1997, a studio album (also by Gregmar Productions), produced by Astrud and Marcelo Gilberto, was released in the Asian territories by the Pony Canyon label. Comprised entirely of Astrud Gilberto's original compositions (with the exception of just one American standard), the album bears the title of "Temperance". Yet to be released outside of Asia, the album features guests Michael Franks and the New York Voices.
Gilberto's sold-out performances at the "House of Blues", and her legendary shows at NYC's SOB's continued to be musical "happenings" to her fans up until 2001, when she decided to take indefinite time off the "road", in order to be able to spend more time with her family, and do more writing and painting (she is also a fine art artist (click here to view some of her artwork).
Gilberto's style has been a strong influence in contemporary music. Many artists have revealed the fact that they have been inspired by her musical style, among them: Basia (who recorded a tribute to Astrud, a song named "Astrud"), Sade, Sinead O'Connor, Michael Franks, Pat Metheney, and Suzanne Vega. Several "avant-garde" groups have also professed having Astrud as their "inspiring muse".
Gilberto's work as songwriter has gradually but surely developed from a "side thing" in the beginning of her career, to an integral part of it, in the later years. Since the mid-eighties, her live shows featured a large number of her own original compositions, to which audiences have been just as receptive as they have always been to old standards such as "The Girl from Ipanema", "One Note Samba", or "Quiet Nights".
Gilberto's 2002 "Jungle" album release, is a showcase of her songwriting, as it features ten original new compositions.
In April 2002, Gilberto was inducted into the "International Latin Music Hall of Fame".
In November 2008, Gilberto was awarded by the Latin Recording Academy the "Lifetime Achievement" Grammy Award.
One Note Samba
Astrud Gilberto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Built upon a single note
Other notes are bound to follow
But the root is still that note
Now this new note is the consequence
Of the one we've just been through
As I'm bound to be
There's so many people
Who can talk and talk, and talk
And just say nothing
Or nearly nothing
I have used up all the scale
I know and at the end
I've come to nothing
I mean nothing
So I come back to my first note
As I come back to you
I will pour into that one note
All the love I feel for you
Any one who wants the whole show
Re mi fa so la ci do
He will find himself with no show
Better play the note you know
So I come back to my first note
As I come back to you
I will pour into that one note
All the love I feel for you
Any one who wants the whole show
Re mi fa so la ci do
He will find himself with no show
Better play the note you know
The lyrics to Astrud Gilberto's song "One Note Samba" convey the simplicity and beauty of a samba built upon a single note. The song begins by emphasizing that while other notes may be added in, the foundation and essence of the samba lies in that single note. It then explores the idea that the introduction of a new note is a consequence of the previous note, just as the singer sees themselves as an unavoidable consequence of the person they are addressing in the song.
The lyrics then shift focus to the power of words. Many people can talk endlessly, yet say nothing of substance or importance. The singer acknowledges that they have exhausted their range of notes and musical scales, concluding that they have reached nothing, both musically and perhaps metaphorically. With this realization, they return to their first note and compare it to how they return to the person they are addressing. They express their intention to pour all the love they feel into that one note, highlighting the depth of their emotions for the individual.
The song then offers a playful reminder that anyone seeking the whole show, or the full range of musical notes, will find themselves with nothing. Instead, the suggestion is to focus on playing the note you know, embracing simplicity and authenticity.
Overall, "One Note Samba" reflects on the power of simplicity and the depth of emotional connection, using music as a metaphor for relationships and self-expression.
Line by Line Meaning
This is just a little samba
This song is a simple samba
Built upon a single note
Created with only one musical note as the foundation
Other notes are bound to follow
More notes will naturally follow
But the root is still that note
However, the main focus remains on that original note
Now this new note is the consequence
Now a new note arises as a result
Of the one we've just been through
Of the previous note we experienced
As I'm bound to be
Just like I am bound to be
The unavoidable consequence of you
An inevitable outcome caused by your influence
There's so many people
There are numerous individuals
Who can talk and talk, and talk
Who can speak endlessly
And just say nothing
Yet, their words hold no substance
Or nearly nothing
Or very little of importance
I have used up all the scale
I have explored the entire musical scale
I know and at the end
I have exhausted my knowledge and skills
I've come to nothing
Nevertheless, I have achieved nothing
I mean nothing
Literally, I mean absolutely nothing
So I come back to my first note
Therefore, I return to my initial note
As I come back to you
Just like I come back to you
I will pour into that one note
I will express all the love I have for you through that single note
All the love I feel for you
All the deep affection I have towards you
Anyone who wants the whole show
Someone who desires the complete performance
Re mi fa so la ci do
Musical notes of the major scale
He will find himself with no show
They will discover there is nothing impressive
Better play the note you know
It's best to perform with the note you are familiar with
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Antonio Carlos Brasileiro De A Jobim, Newton Mendonca
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@siemonjf
This is just a little samba, built upon a single note
Other notes are sure to follow but the root is still that note
Now this new note is the consequence of the one we've just been through
As I'm bound to be the unavoidable consequence of you
There's so many people who can talk and talk and talk
And just say nothing or nearly nothing
I have used up all the scale I know and at the end I've come
To nothing I mean nothing
So I come back to my first note as I must come back to you
I will pour into that one note all the love I feel for you
Any one who wants the whole show show do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ci-do
He will find himself with no show better play the note you know
; 7 ]
@MAYIA.
Eis aqui este sambinha
Feito numa nota só
Outras notas vão entrar
Mas a base é uma só
Esta outra é consequência
Do que acabo de dizer
Como eu sou a consequência
Inevitável de você
Quanta gente existe por aí
Que fala tanto
e não diz nada
Ou quase nada
Já me utilizei de toda a escala
E no final não sobrou nada
Não deu em nada
E voltei prá minha nota
Como eu volto prá você
Vou cantar com a minha nota
Como eu gosto de você
E quem quer todas as notas
Ré mi fá sol la si dó
Fica sempre sem nenhuma
Fique numa nota só
@consequenceable
+Сергей Бойнов
Эта маленькая самба
В ноте сделана одной
Остальные ноты вступят
Но основа лишь в одной
Вот другая нота – следствие
Окончившей звучать
Как и я являюсь неизбежным
Следствием тебя
Люди любят говорить всё сразу обо всём
О чём не надо
Совсем не надо
Я прошёл ступени вверх и вниз, пока не понял
Что мне надо
Одно мне надо
Я вернусь к любимой ноте
И опять приду к тебе
Я спою с любимой нотой
О своей любви к тебе
Тот, кто хочет взять всё сразу
Ре, ми фа, соль, ля си, до
Не отыщет свою ноту
Что-то выбери одно
Перевод с португальского:
Валера Хренников
@josephcostello695
Everytime I hear this music I think of my life grandpa who was born in Brazil. Makes me proud that I gave that blood in me.
@gerhardheydrich3146
Astrud is SO amazing!!!!!
@goofyfoot2001
I grew up in Brasil in the 1970's...Incredible place back then. Safe. We traveled by ourselves as teens. Drank too much. Danced and beat on table tops too much. Spent our days trying to fit into two cultures. Living in and sometimes above.
@jean-pierredelorraine6161
Must have been legendary times :-)
@williamzhao2521
the population has doubled.
@kechristen
@@jean-pierredelorraine6161 Yes, legendary military dictatorship
@hayesman76
I bet living in Brasil in the 1970s was awesome.
To me, though -- an American who's never visited Brasil -- the 1960s were the height of pop music and culture in Brasil. One of my favorite films, a heist movie titled "Grand Slam," was filmed there in the '60s during Carnaval and includes some great scenery.
@lorenzomagazzeni5425
Safe my ass.
@scottmiller6495
One of the greatest songs of all time done in a Samba style that's fabulous!!!!!
@choclinda
Makes my heart sing. New all the words as a teenager. Now in my late 60’s I have forgotten most.