A self-taught guitarist and singer, Gilberto moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1950 and joined the vocal group Garotos da Lua ("The Boys of the Moon") as their lead singer. After a year and a half, he was kicked out of the group for his lack of discipline and spent the next several years in a marginal existence. Eventually, he found his way, creating a new way to express himself in voice and on the guitar. The result of his obsessive experiments became known as bossa nova.
Bossa nova is a refined version of samba, deemphasizing the percussive aspect of its rhythm and enriching the melodic and harmonic content. Rather than relying on the traditional Afro-Brazilian percussive instruments, bossa nova usually utilizes a drum set. João Gilberto often eschews all accompaniment, using only his guitar, which he uses as a percussive as well as a harmonic instrument. The singing style he developed is almost whispering, economical, and without vibrato. He creates his tempo tensions by singing ahead or behind the guitar.
This style, which Gilberto introduced in 1957, created a sensation in the musical circles of Rio's Zona Sul, and many young guitarists sought to imitate it. It was first heard on record in 1958 when João Gilberto accompanied singer Elizete Cardoso in a recording of "Chega de Saudade", a song by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes. Shortly after this recording, João Gilberto made his own debut single of the same song, followed by the 1959 LP, Chega de Saudade. The song became a hit, launching Gilberto's career and the bossa nova craze.
Besides a number of Jobim compositions, the album Chega de Saudade featured older sambas and popular songs from the 1940s and '50s, all performed in the distinctive bossa nova style. This album was followed by two more in 1960 and 1961, by which time the singer featured new songs by a younger generation of performer/composers such as Carlos Lyra and Roberto Menescal.
By 1962, bossa nova had been embraced by such North American jazz musicians as Herbie Mann, Charlie Byrd, and Stan Getz, who invited Gilberto and Jobim to collaborate on what became one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time, Getz/Gilberto. Through this album, Gilberto's wife, Astrud, became an international star, and the Jobim/de Moraes composition "The Girl from Ipanema" became a worldwide pop music standard for the ages.
João Gilberto continued to perform through the 1960s but did not release another studio album until João Gilberto en México, recorded in 1970 during a period of residence in Mexico. João Gilberto, aka the "White Album" (1973), featured hypnotic minimalist execution and is widely considered to be his best album. The year 1976 saw the release of The Best of Two Worlds, a reunion with Stan Getz, featuring singer Miúcha, sister of Chico Buarque, who had become Gilberto's second wife in April 1965. Amoroso (1977) backed Gilberto with the lush string orchestration of Claus Ogerman, who had provided a similar sound to Jobim's instrumental recordings in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As had been the case for all of Gilberto's albums, the album consisted mostly of Jobim compositions, mixed with older sambas and an occasional North American standard from the 1940s.
Having lived in the US since 1962, João Gilberto returned to Brazil in 1980. The following year saw the release of Brasil, with guests Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, who in the late 1960s had founded the Tropicalia movement, a fusion of Brazilian popular music with foreign pop. The 1991 release, João, with orchestrations by Clare Fischer, was unusual in its lack of even a single Jobim composition, instead featuring songs in English, French, Italian, and Spanish, plus old sambas and the solitary contemporary song "Sampa" (Caetano Veloso). Also released in 1991 was the album Canto Do Pajé by Veloso's sister Maria Bethânia on which Bethânia and Gilberto sing an intimate duet Maria/Linda Flor (Barroso, Peixoto, Vogler, Costa, and Pôrto) accompanied solely by his guitar. João Voz e Violão (2000) was an homage to the music of Gilberto's youth as well as a nod to producer Caetano Veloso.
Evenly interspersed with these studio recordings have been the live recordings, Live in Montreux; João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira; Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar; Live at Umbria Jazz, and Live in Tokyo.
While all of Gilberto's albums since Getz/Gilberto have been released on CD, the first three domestic albums were released in 1988 by EMI on a single CD entitled The Legendary João Gilberto: The Original Bossa Nova Recordings (1958-1961). The disc also included three tracks from the singer's 1959 Orfeu Negro EP: "Manhã de Carnaval," O Nosso Amor, and A Felicidade, the latter two merged into a single medley track to fit within the recording time of a CD. After its release, Gilberto successfully sued to have the title removed from sale as an unauthorized release of his artistic works.
João Gilberto has long had a reputation as an eccentric recluse and a nearly neurotic perfectionist. He lives in an apartment in Leblon, Rio de Janeiro, refusing all interviews and avoiding crowds. He has been known to walk out on performances in response to an audience he considers disrespectful or out of theaters possessing acoustics below his standards, and at times demands that the air conditioning be turned off at concert venues. Yet he continues to perform to sell-out crowds in Brazil as well as in Europe, North America, and Japan.
Discography:
1959 - Chega de Saudade (Odeon)
1960 - O Amor, o Sorriso e a Flor (Odeon)
1961 - João Gilberto (Odeon)
1962 - The Boss of the Bossa Nova (Atlantic)
1963 - The Warm World of João Gilberto (Atlantic)
1964 - Getz/Gilberto (Verve)
1965 - Herbie Mann & João Gilberto (Atlantic)
1974 - João Gilberto en Mexico (PolyGram)
1976 - Best of Two Worlds (Columbia)
1977 - Amoroso (Warner Brothers)
1981 - Brasil (Warner Brothers)
1986 - João Gilberto Live in Montreux (WEA)
1991 - João (PolyGram)
2000 - João Voz e Violão (Universal)
2002 - Live at Umbria Jazz (Egea)
2004 - João Gilberto in Tokyo (Verve)
A Felicidade
João Gilberto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A felicidade é como a pluma
Que o vento vai levando pelo ar
Voa tão leve, mas tem a vida breve
Precisa que haja vento sem parar
A felicidade do pobre parece
A grande ilusão do carnaval
Por um momento de sonho pra fazer a fantasia
De rei, ou de pirata, ou jardineira
E tudo se acabar na quarta-feira
Tristeza não tem fim
Felicidade, sim
Tristeza não tem fim
Felicidade, sim
A felicidade é como a gota
De orvalho numa pétala de flor
Brilha tranquila, depois de leve, oscila
E cai como uma lágrima de amor
A minha felicidade está sonhando
Nos olhos da minha namorada
É como esta noite passando, passando
Em busca da madrugada, falem baixo, por favor
Pra que ela acorde alegre como o dia
Oferecendo beijos de amor
Tristeza não tem fim
Felicidade, sim
Tristeza não tem fim
Felicidade, sim
Tristeza não tem fim
Felicidade, sim
Tristeza não tem fim
Felicidade, sim
Tristeza não tem fim
felicidade, sim" translates to "Sadness has no end, happiness, yes." João Gilberto's "A Felicidade" is a soothing bossa nova that is both sad and joyous. The song opens with a statement about how sadness seems infinite, while happiness seems fleeting, like a feather in the wind. João Gilberto suggests that happiness lasts only a brief moment, much like the lifespan of a feather carried by the wind. The song suggests that in order for happiness to be sustained, life must have a constant flowing source, like the wind. If it stops, the delicate "feather" of happiness will fall.
The second stanza of the song relates to the illusion of happiness among the poor. João Gilberto sympathizes with their lot because they work hard all year to have one moment of dream fulfillments in the form of the carnival attire - which is discarded the day after. It's fascinating to see how an entire culture is expressed in this one stanza - how everyone eagerly anticipates carnival, but once it's over, the reality of the situation bears down. The allure and excitement of carnival become a memory; their everyday life remains unchanged, and the cycle of longing begins anew.
Line by Line Meaning
Tristeza não tem fim
Sadness has no end
Felicidade, sim
Happiness, yes
A felicidade é como a pluma
Happiness is like a feather
Que o vento vai levando pelo ar
That the wind takes through the air
Voa tão leve, mas tem a vida breve
It flies so lightly, but its life is short
Precisa que haja vento sem parar
It needs wind to keep going
A felicidade do pobre parece
The happiness of the poor appears
A grande ilusão do carnaval
To be the great illusion of carnival
A gente trabalha o ano inteiro
We work the whole year
Por um momento de sonho pra fazer a fantasia
For a moment of dream to make the costume
De rei, ou de pirata, ou jardineira
As a king, or a pirate, or a gardener
E tudo se acabar na quarta-feira
And everything ends on Wednesday
A felicidade é como a gota
Happiness is like a drop
De orvalho numa pétala de flor
Of dew on a flower petal
Brilha tranquila, depois de leve, oscila
It shines quietly, then lightly sways
E cai como uma lágrima de amor
And falls like a tear of love
A minha felicidade está sonhando
My happiness is dreaming
Nos olhos da minha namorada
In the eyes of my girlfriend
É como esta noite passando, passando
It's like this night passing by
Em busca da madrugada, falem baixo, por favor
In search of the dawn, speak softly, please
Pra que ela acorde alegre como o dia
So she wakes up happy like the day
Oferecendo beijos de amor
Offering kisses of love
Lyrics © Tratore
Written by: Tom Jobim, Vinicius De Moraes
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tom Yam Kum
★Tristeza não tem fim Felicidade, sim
A felicidade é como a pluma
Que o vento vai levando pelo ar
Voa tão leve Mas tem a vida breve
Precisa que haja vento sem parar
A felicidade do pobre parece
A grande ilusão do carnaval,
A gente trabalha o ano inteiro
Por um momento de sonho Pra fazer a fantasia
de rei, ou de pirata, ou jardineira
E tudo se acabar na quarta feira
★Tristeza não tem fim Felicidade, sim
A felicidade é como a gota
de orvalho Numa pétala de flor
Brilha tranqüila Depois de leve oscila
E cai como uma lágrima de amor
A minha felicidade está sonhando
Nos olhos da minha namorada
E como esta noite Passando, passando
Em busca da madrugada Falem baixo por favor
Pra que ela acorde alegre como o dia
Oferecendo beijos de amor
Jj Coz
Although many people won't agree with me, Joao Gilberto invented the rhythmical way of playing bossa nova in guitar with no need of percussion. I'm very grateful to whom posted this video. It's a gem, unrepeatable.
livejazz. info
@Andrew he invented a style that was new. Listen to the three individual levels: bass with the thumb on 1/3, the chords anticipated off the beats and the voice floating ... if you are not impressed it's because you do not have the necessary knowledge to judge profoundly.
Andrew
@indonesian bassboosteralso did you watch that Vox video abt J dilla? Your comment reminds me of it lol
Andrew
@indonesian bassboosterwhat did Joao do bad? I mean he was an adulterer I think but other than being a city boy he didn’t do much
indonesian bassbooster
Another of his innovation that I love is his distinct way of singing off-rythm it should originally go along. Reminds me of J Dilla's off-rythmic beats that "humanize" the song, showing that there's not just one "correct" way of singing it and still sounding like a masterpiece.
indonesian bassbooster
The violão gago technique he invented was absolutely innovative and ahead of its time. May God forgive his sins.
João Pedro Vale
Um gênio executando a maior obra prima de dois monstros da Bossa Nova. Isso é Brasil. DEMAIS!
Tom Yam Kum
★Tristeza não tem fim Felicidade, sim
A felicidade é como a pluma
Que o vento vai levando pelo ar
Voa tão leve Mas tem a vida breve
Precisa que haja vento sem parar
A felicidade do pobre parece
A grande ilusão do carnaval,
A gente trabalha o ano inteiro
Por um momento de sonho Pra fazer a fantasia
de rei, ou de pirata, ou jardineira
E tudo se acabar na quarta feira
★Tristeza não tem fim Felicidade, sim
A felicidade é como a gota
de orvalho Numa pétala de flor
Brilha tranqüila Depois de leve oscila
E cai como uma lágrima de amor
A minha felicidade está sonhando
Nos olhos da minha namorada
E como esta noite Passando, passando
Em busca da madrugada Falem baixo por favor
Pra que ela acorde alegre como o dia
Oferecendo beijos de amor
Jacques Mesrine
How to create rhythm without drums. Stunning. You could even dance to this!!
Juan Armas
ES UN EXCELENTE TEMA QUE NUNCA PASARÁ DE MODA X SU GRAN CONTENIDO DE VIDA!!!🥰😀 JOAO GILBERTO AL IGUAL QUE A.C.JOBIM ES SOLO PARA MELÓMANOS AUTÉNTICOS CON SENSIBILIDAD 🥰😀 SALUDOS CORDIALES DESDE MONTERREY MÉXICO!!👏