João Gilberto:
Born João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira on June … Read Full Bio ↴João Gilberto:
Born João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira on June 10, 1931 in the town of Juazeiro, Bahia is a Brazilian musician and considered one of the creators, with Tom Jobim (Antonio Carlos Jobim) and Vinicius de Moraes, of bossa nova.
Biography
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 more 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 except 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 (listen to excerpt) turned into a hit, launching Gilberto's career and the bossa nova craze. Besides a number of Jobim compositions, the album featured older sambas and popular songs from the 1940s and '50s, but 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 North American jazz musicians such 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. 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, 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.
Stan Getz:
Stanley Gayetsky (February 2, 1927 in Philadelphia – June 6, 1991 in Malibu, California), usually known by his stage name Stan Getz, was an American jazz musician. He is considered one of the greatest tenor saxophone players of all time. Known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, Getz's prime influence was the wispy, mellow tone of his idol, Lester Young. In 1986, however, Getz said: "I never consciously tried to conceive of what my sound should be..."
Born to Ukrainian-Jewish parents and raised in New York City, Getz played a number of instruments before his father bought him his first saxophone at the age of 13. In 1943, he was accepted into Jack Teagarden's band, and because of his youth he became Teagarden's ward. Getz also played along with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton. After playing for Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman, Getz was a soloist with Woody Herman from 1947 to 1949 in 'the second herd' and he first gained wide attention as one of the bands saxophonists, who were known collectively as 'the four brothers', the others being Serge Chaloff, Zoot Sims and Herbie Steward. With Herman, he had a hit with "Early Autumn" and after Getz left 'the second herd' he was able to launch his solo career. He would be the leader on almost all of his recording sessions after 1950.
In the 1950s, Getz become popular playing cool jazz with Horace Silver, Johnny Smith, Oscar Peterson, and many others. His first two quintets were notable for their personnel, including Charlie Parker's rhythm section of drummer Roy Haynes, pianist Al Haig and bassist Tommy Potter. In 1958, Getz tried to escape his narcotics addiction by moving to Copenhagen, Denmark.
Returning to America in 1961, Getz became a central figure in the Bossa nova. Along with Charlie Byrd, who had just returned from a U.S. State Department tour of Brazil, Getz recorded Jazz Samba in 1962 and it became a hit. The title track was an adaptation of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Samba De Uma Nota Só" (One Note Samba). Getz won the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance of 1963 for "Desafinado".
He then recorded with Jobim, João Gilberto and his wife, Astrud Gilberto. Their "The Girl from Ipanema" won a Grammy Award. The title piece became one of the most well-known latin jazz pieces of all time. Getz/Gilberto won two Grammys (Best Album and Best Single), besting The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, a victory for Bossa Nova and Brazilian jazz. In 1967, Getz recorded albums with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke.
In the early 1970s Getz worked in the fusion idiom and experimented with an Echoplex on his saxophone, for which critics vilified him. He eventually discarded fusion and "electric jazz", returning to acoustic jazz. Getz gradually de-emphasized the Bossa Nova, opting for more esoteric and less-mainstream jazz. He had a cameo in the movie The Exterminator (1980).
Born João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira on June … Read Full Bio ↴João Gilberto:
Born João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira on June 10, 1931 in the town of Juazeiro, Bahia is a Brazilian musician and considered one of the creators, with Tom Jobim (Antonio Carlos Jobim) and Vinicius de Moraes, of bossa nova.
Biography
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 more 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 except 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 (listen to excerpt) turned into a hit, launching Gilberto's career and the bossa nova craze. Besides a number of Jobim compositions, the album featured older sambas and popular songs from the 1940s and '50s, but 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 North American jazz musicians such 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. 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, 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.
Stan Getz:
Stanley Gayetsky (February 2, 1927 in Philadelphia – June 6, 1991 in Malibu, California), usually known by his stage name Stan Getz, was an American jazz musician. He is considered one of the greatest tenor saxophone players of all time. Known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, Getz's prime influence was the wispy, mellow tone of his idol, Lester Young. In 1986, however, Getz said: "I never consciously tried to conceive of what my sound should be..."
Born to Ukrainian-Jewish parents and raised in New York City, Getz played a number of instruments before his father bought him his first saxophone at the age of 13. In 1943, he was accepted into Jack Teagarden's band, and because of his youth he became Teagarden's ward. Getz also played along with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton. After playing for Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman, Getz was a soloist with Woody Herman from 1947 to 1949 in 'the second herd' and he first gained wide attention as one of the bands saxophonists, who were known collectively as 'the four brothers', the others being Serge Chaloff, Zoot Sims and Herbie Steward. With Herman, he had a hit with "Early Autumn" and after Getz left 'the second herd' he was able to launch his solo career. He would be the leader on almost all of his recording sessions after 1950.
In the 1950s, Getz become popular playing cool jazz with Horace Silver, Johnny Smith, Oscar Peterson, and many others. His first two quintets were notable for their personnel, including Charlie Parker's rhythm section of drummer Roy Haynes, pianist Al Haig and bassist Tommy Potter. In 1958, Getz tried to escape his narcotics addiction by moving to Copenhagen, Denmark.
Returning to America in 1961, Getz became a central figure in the Bossa nova. Along with Charlie Byrd, who had just returned from a U.S. State Department tour of Brazil, Getz recorded Jazz Samba in 1962 and it became a hit. The title track was an adaptation of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Samba De Uma Nota Só" (One Note Samba). Getz won the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance of 1963 for "Desafinado".
He then recorded with Jobim, João Gilberto and his wife, Astrud Gilberto. Their "The Girl from Ipanema" won a Grammy Award. The title piece became one of the most well-known latin jazz pieces of all time. Getz/Gilberto won two Grammys (Best Album and Best Single), besting The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, a victory for Bossa Nova and Brazilian jazz. In 1967, Getz recorded albums with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke.
In the early 1970s Getz worked in the fusion idiom and experimented with an Echoplex on his saxophone, for which critics vilified him. He eventually discarded fusion and "electric jazz", returning to acoustic jazz. Getz gradually de-emphasized the Bossa Nova, opting for more esoteric and less-mainstream jazz. He had a cameo in the movie The Exterminator (1980).
Méditation
João Gilberto / Stan Getz Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Quem acreditou
No amor, no sorriso, na flor
Então sonhou, sonhou
E perdeu a paz
O amor, o sorriso e a flor
Se transformam depressa demais
Quem no coração
Abrigou a tristeza de ver
Tudo isso se perder
E na solidão
Procurou um caminho e seguiu
Já descrente de um dia feliz
Quem chorou, chorou
E tanto que seu pranto já secou
Quem depois voltou
Ao amor, ao sorriso e à flor
Então tudo encontrou
Pois a própria dor
Revelou o caminho do amor
E a tristeza acabou
Quem acreditou
No amor, no sorriso, na flor
Então sonhou, sonhou
E perdeu a paz
O amor, o sorriso e a flor
Se transformam depressa demais
Quem no coração
Abrigou a tristeza de ver
Tudo isso se perder
E na solidão
Procurou um caminho e seguiu
Já descrente de um dia feliz
Quem chorou, chorou
E tanto que seu pranto já secou
Quem depois voltou
Ao amor, ao sorriso e à flor
Então tudo encontrou
Pois a própria dor
Revelou o caminho do amor
E a tristeza acabou
No amor, no sorriso, na flor
Então sonhou, sonhou
E perdeu a paz
O amor, o sorriso e a flor
Se transformam depressa demais
Quem no coração
Abrigou a tristeza de ver
E na solidão
Procurou um caminho e seguiu
Já descrente de um dia feliz
Quem chorou, chorou
E tanto que seu pranto já secou
Quem depois voltou
Ao amor, ao sorriso e à flor
Então tudo encontrou
Pois a própria dor
Revelou o caminho do amor
E a tristeza acabou
Quem acreditou
No amor, no sorriso, na flor
Então sonhou, sonhou
E perdeu a paz
O amor, o sorriso e a flor
Se transformam depressa demais
Quem no coração
Abrigou a tristeza de ver
Tudo isso se perder
E na solidão
Procurou um caminho e seguiu
Já descrente de um dia feliz
Quem chorou, chorou
E tanto que seu pranto já secou
Quem depois voltou
Ao amor, ao sorriso e à flor
Então tudo encontrou
Pois a própria dor
Revelou o caminho do amor
E a tristeza acabou
The lyrics to João Gilberto's "Meditação" speak to the cyclical nature of love and loss. The song explains that those who have believed in love, a smile, and a flower have dreamed and ultimately lost their peace. The objects of their affection quickly and easily transform, causing them to feel sadness in their hearts. If one has experienced the pain of loss and has subsequently searched for a path, it is likely they have lost hope in the possibility of finding true happiness. These melancholic individuals have cried, cried so much that they've run out of tears. However, those who have returned to love, a smile, and a flower have discovered everything they've been searching for. The pain they suffered on their journey to find what their heart truly longed for was worth it, for in feeling the ache, they discovered the path to love, and their sadness came to an end.
The song's message is clear: those who have experienced heartbreak will ultimately find love again, but only if they are brave enough to embrace their pain and learn from it. The lyrics are poetic and insightful, reminding us that sadness is a part of the human experience, and that healing can only be found through pain. João Gilberto's gentle voice, paired with the soft strums of his guitar, create a serene atmosphere that perfectly captures the song's message.
Line by Line Meaning
Quem acreditou
Those who believed
No amor, no sorriso, na flor
In love, in smiles, in flowers
Então sonhou, sonhou
Then dreamed, dreamed
E perdeu a paz
And lost their peace
O amor, o sorriso e a flor
Love, smile, and flower
Se transformam depressa demais
Transform too quickly
Quem no coração
Those in their heart
Abrigou a tristeza de ver
Carried the sadness of seeing
Tudo isso se perder
Everything lost
E na solidão
And in loneliness
Procurou um caminho e seguiu
Sought a path and followed
Já descrente de um dia feliz
Already disbelieving in a happy day
Quem chorou, chorou
Those who wept, wept
E tanto que seu pranto já secou
And cried so much that their tears have dried up
Quem depois voltou
Those who later returned
Ao amor, ao sorriso e à flor
To love, to smile, and to flower
Então tudo encontrou
Then found everything
Pois a própria dor
Because their own pain
Revelou o caminho do amor
Revealed the path of love
E a tristeza acabou
And the sadness ended
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Norman Gimbel, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Newton Mendonca
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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