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)
La Vem a Baiana
João Gilberto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
De saia rendada, sandália enfeitada
Vem me convidar para sambar
Mas eu não vou
Lá vem a baiana
Coberta de contas, pisando nas pontas
Achando que eu sou o seu ioiô
Mas eu não sou
Mostrando os encantos, falando dos santos
Dizendo que é filha do Senhor do Bonfim
Mas pra cima de mim
Pode jogar seu quebranto que eu não vou
Pode invocar o seu santo que eu não vou
Pode esperar sentada, baiana, que eu não vou
Não vou porque não posso resistir a tentação
Se ela sambar, eu vou sofrer
Pois esse diabo sambando é mais mulher
E se eu deixar ela faz o que bem quer
Não vou, não vou, não vou
Nem amarrado, porque sei
Se ela sambar, eu vou sofrer
"La Vem a Baiana" is a classic samba song by João Gilberto. The lyrics tell the story of a Baiana, a woman from Bahia, who comes dressed in a lace skirt and adorned sandals, inviting the singer to dance samba. However, the singer refuses because he knows that if she starts to samba, he will suffer. The Baiana is depicted as someone who believes she has power over the singer, thinking he is like her toy (ioiô). She shows off her charms and talks about the saints, claiming to be the daughter of the Senhor do Bonfim, a famous church in Salvador, Bahia. But regardless of her attempts to enchant him, the singer resists her and refuses to be manipulated.
The lyrics portray a sense of self-control and awareness on the part of the singer. He is conscious of the temptation that the Baiana represents and understands that if he succumbs to her charms, he will ultimately suffer. The Baiana is depicted as a seductive and manipulative figure, trying to exert control over the singer. It is a song about self-preservation and resisting temptation, even in the face of allure.
Line by Line Meaning
Lá vem a baiana
Here comes the 'baiana' (a woman from Bahia)
De saia rendada, sandália enfeitada
Wearing a lacy skirt, decorated sandals
Vem me convidar para sambar
She comes to invite me to dance the samba
Mas eu não vou
But I won't go
Lá vem a baiana
Here comes the 'baiana'
Coberta de contas, pisando nas pontas
Covered in beads, walking on her tiptoes
Achando que eu sou o seu ioiô
Thinking that I am her devoted lover
Mas eu não sou
But I am not
Lá vem a baiana
Here comes the 'baiana'
Mostrando os encantos, falando dos santos
Showing her charms, talking about the saints
Dizendo que é filha do Senhor do Bonfim
Claiming to be the daughter of the Lord of Bonfim
Mas pra cima de mim
But not towards me
Pode jogar seu quebranto que eu não vou
You can cast your spell but I won't go
Pode invocar o seu santo que eu não vou
You can invoke your saint but I won't go
Pode esperar sentada, baiana, que eu não vou
You can wait sitting down, 'baiana,' but I won't go
Não vou porque não posso resistir a tentação
I won't go because I can't resist the temptation
Se ela sambar, eu vou sofrer
If she dances the samba, I will suffer
Pois esse diabo sambando é mais mulher
Because this devil dancing is more woman
E se eu deixar ela faz o que bem quer
And if I let her, she does whatever she wants
Não vou, não vou, não vou
I won't go, I won't go, I won't go
Nem amarrado, porque sei
Not even tied up, because I know
Se ela sambar, eu vou sofrer
If she dances the samba, I will suffer
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@thequeen2675
Lá vem a baiana
De saia rendada, sandália enfeitada
Vem me convidar para sambar
Mas eu não vou
Lá vem a baiana
Coberta de contas, pisando nas pontas
Achando que eu sou o seu ioiô
Mas eu não sou
Lá vem a baiana
Mostrando os encantos, falando dos santos
Dizendo que é filha do Senhor do Bonfim
Mas pra cima de mim
Pode jogar seu quebranto que eu não vou
Pode invocar o seu santo que eu não vou
Pode esperar sentada, baiana, que eu não vou
Não vou porque não posso resistir a tentação
Se ela sambar, eu vou sofrer
Pois esse diabo sambando é mais mulher
E se eu deixar ela faz o que bem quer
Não vou, não vou, não vou
Nem amarrado, porque sei
Se ela sambar, eu vou sofrer
RIP Joao
@gabrieltomaz5261
Só posso dizer que essa música fez a minha vida mais feliz por instante... Obrigado por ter existido João Gilberto... Obrigado Deus por me dar a oportunidade de conhecer suas músicas....
@williamdrose9350
oh my
@afraniomelo1770
É um gênio, ninguém é igual, monstro da música. Obrigado Bahia.
@cifraclub
É o cara!
@ticomoveis7061
Então ensinem interpretações dele, por favor.
@nomesobrenome5527
O Cara, o Gênio, o Mestre!
@facavlis
João Gilberto é um ícone da música mundial!!!
@Kidmann
chata é a tua mente que só gosta de pinga barata! Eu sou Português e tenho paixão por João Gilberto. Único no mundo. ÚNICO..
@kanyasava
Este hombre siempre se lleva mi corazón.
@williamdrose9350
This song is O Melhor. 'Mas pra cima de mim?' Oh hell no Dorival. Gilberto's playing, Area 51