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)
Adeus América
João Gilberto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ai que vontade que eu tenho de voltar
Adeus América, essa terra é muito boa
Mas não posso ficar porque
O samba mandou me chamar
O samba mandou me chamar
Eu digo adeus ao boogie woogie, ao woogie boogie
E ao swing também
Que isso não me convém
Eu voltar pra cuíca, bater na barrica
Tocar tamborim
Chega de lights e all rights, good nights e faufaits
Isso não dá mais pra mim
Eu quero um samba feito só pra mim
The lyrics of João Gilberto's "Adeus América" speak of the longing to return to Brazil from the United States. The opening lines "Não posso mais, ai que saudade do Brasil, ai que vontade que eu tenho de voltar" express the singer's sentiment of being unable to stay any longer in America and his longing to return to his homeland. He bids goodbye to America, describing the land as good, but he has been called by the samba, making it difficult for him to stay. The repetition of "O samba mandou me chamar" highlights the dominant influence of samba on the singer's life.
The song then goes on to list the various aspects of American music that he is leaving behind, including boogie woogie, swing, rock, fox-trots, and pinotes, as they no longer appeal to him. Instead, he longs to return to Brazil's roots and embrace the traditional samba, to beat the cuíca, play tamborim, and bater na barrica, which is playing on a barrel. He desires a samba that is made just for him, showing his need for individuality and a connection to Brazil's culture.
Overall, "Adeus América" is a love letter to Brazil, expressing a longing for home and an appreciation for the traditional rhythms of samba.
Line by Line Meaning
Não posso mais, ai que saudade do Brasil
I cannot take it anymore, oh how I miss Brazil.
Ai que vontade que eu tenho de voltar
Oh how I long to go back.
Adeus América, essa terra é muito boa
Farewell America, this land is very good.
Mas não posso ficar porque
But I cannot stay because
O samba mandou me chamar
Samba has called me.
O samba mandou me chamar
Samba has called me.
Eu digo adeus ao boogie woogie, ao woogie boogie
I say goodbye to boogie woogie and woogie boogie.
E ao swing também
And to swing as well.
Chega de rocks, fox-trotes e pinotes
Enough of rocks, fox-trots, and jumps.
Que isso não me convém
These do not suit me.
Eu voltar pra cuíca, bater na barrica
I'll go back to playing the cuica, hitting the barrel.
Tocar tamborim
And playing the tamborim.
Chega de lights e all rights, good nights e faufaits
Enough of lights, all rights, good nights, and faufaits.
Isso não dá mais pra mim
These no longer work for me.
Eu quero um samba feito só pra mim
I want a samba made just for me.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Geraldo Jaques, Haroldo Barbosa
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dimas Vicente
João Gilberto
O pai da bossa Nova
Nosso grande cantor
João Gilberto
Sua voz suave
Seu violão falante
O mundo encantou
João Gilberto
Chega de saudade
Está canção
O mundo cantou
João Gilberto
Sua música eternizou
Raimundo Carlos Oliveira
Não adianta tentarmos uma definição para a arte Dele, está à frente desse nosso tempo. Principalmente o seu cantar, não que o violão seja algo menos sublime, mas o que Ele faz com a voz é coisa para daqui uns cem anos ou mais ser decifrado. Muitos tentam, mas ficam apenas no palpável, naquilo que a técnica pode suportar. Como os gênios, Ele não tem o reconhecimento em seu próprio tempo, mas a posteriori. Nosso tempo, pelo menos, lhe reconhece, acredito eu, apenas um décimo do que realmente Ele vale. Não é como foi com o holandês que só vendeu uma pintura em vida e mesmo assim para o seu próprio irmão. Simplesmente é o maior cantor que o mundo conheceu e tenho certeza que Ele sabe disso. A cada vez que O ouço me convenço mais do Seu Brilhantismo. Posso passar horas por dia me deleitando com Seu cantar...
Dimas Vicente
João Gilberto
O pai da bossa Nova
Nosso grande cantor
João Gilberto
Sua voz suave
Seu violão falante
O mundo encantou
João Gilberto
Chega de saudade
Está canção
O mundo cantou
João Gilberto
Sua música eternizou
Antonio Carlos Lopes
como faz falta !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! João, Tom, Carlos Lyra, Elizeth Cardoso, Elis Regina ,Ciro Monteiro , Ataulfo Alves.... e tantos outros
Taciana Merquiades
O samba mandou me chamar ❤😍😍😍😍
Gasparzito • há 30 anos
Esse festival foi mágico nesse ano,no Mesmo ano do show legendário do meu maior ídolo Stevie ray vaughan!
Jean Bossa Guitar
Maravilha!♡...créditos também para os compositores desta canção: Haroldo Barbosa e Geraldo Jacques.
Roberto E.
Brilhante!
Gabriel Maia
Maravilhosa!
PROF. CÉSAR QÚADROS
Se o mundo acabasse e somente essa interpretação restasse de todo o acervo mundial da música, digo que seria suficiente. Aí estão todos os grandes representados, de todos os tempos, mesmo os mantras indianos, os batuques africanos, bach e mozart, bob dylan, john cage, caetano veloso, caruso e chet baker, todos aí dançando o Ôm fixação e conquista de João Gilberto.
pedro predella
foi longe demais meu chapa, segura a emoção aí.