Astrud Gilberto (; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, March 29, 1940) is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She gained international attention in the 1960s following her recording of the song "

The Girl from Ipanema "Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema") is a Brazilian bossa nova and jazz song. It was a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s and won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Por ...

Biography

Astrud Gilberto was born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, the daughter of a Brazilian mother and a German father, in the state of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...

, Brazil. She was raised in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. Her father was a language professor, and she became fluent in several languages. She married

João Gilberto João Gilberto (born João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira – ; 10 June 1931 – 6 July 2019) was a Brazilian guitarist, singer and composer who was a pioneer of the musical genre of bossa nova in the late 1950s. Around the world, he was of ...

in 1959 and had a son, João Marcelo Gilberto, who later joined her band. Astrud and João divorced in the mid-1960s. She has another son from a second marriage, Gregory Lasorsa, who also played with his mother. Later she began a relationship with her husband's musical collaborator, American jazz saxophone player Stan Getz. She immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1963, residing in the U.S. from that time. She sang on two tracks on the 1963 album ''

Getz/Gilberto ''Getz/Gilberto'' is an album by American saxophonist Stan Getz and Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, featuring pianist and composer Antônio Carlos Jobim (Tom Jobim), who also composed many of the tracks. It was released in March 1964 by Verv ...

'' featuring João Gilberto, Stan Getz, and

Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered one of the great exponents of Brazilian mu ...

. While it was her first professional recording, Astrud "wasn’t a complete novice. She grew up steeped in music (her mother Evangelina Neves Lobo Weinert played multiple instruments) and sang regularly with her husband in Brazil, including in a concert at the Faculdade de Arquitetura, part of one of Rio de Janeiro’s top universities." Her "beguiling, whispery voice" and steadfast approach to singing played a significant role in popularizing "The Girl from Ipanema", earning a Grammy for Song of the Year and a nomination for Best Vocal Performance by a female. The 1964 edited single of "

" omitted the Portuguese lyrics sung by João Gilberto, and established Astrud Gilberto as a Bossa Nova singer. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. For the recording, it is reported Astrud only ever received the standard session fee, $120. However, according to

Gene Lees Frederick Eugene John Lees (February 8, 1928 – April 22, 2010) was a Canadian music critic, biographer, lyricist, and journalist. Lees worked as a newspaper journalist in his native Canada before moving to the United States, where he was a music ...

in ''Singers and the Song II'', Getz asked producer Creed Taylor to ensure she was paid nothing. In 1964, Gilberto appeared in the films '' Get Yourself a College Girl'' and '' The Hanged Man''. Her first solo album was ''

The Astrud Gilberto Album ''The Astrud Gilberto Album (with Antonio Carlos Jobim)'' is the debut studio album by Astrud Gilberto. With Antonio Carlos Jobim on guitar and the arrangements by Marty Paich, it was released via Verve Records in 1965. It peaked at number 41 on ...

'' (1965). Upon moving to the United States, she went on tour with Getz. Beginning as a singer of bossa nova and American jazz standards, Gilberto started to record her own compositions in the 1970s. She has recorded songs in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Japanese. In 1982, Gilberto's son Marcelo joined her group, touring with her for more than a decade as bassist. In addition, he collaborated as co-producer of the albums ''Live in New York'' (1996) and ''Temperance'' (1997). Her son Gregory Lasorsa played guitar on the ''Temperance'' album on the song "Beautiful You", which features singer Michael Franks. Gilberto received the Latin Jazz USA Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1992, and was inducted into the

International Latin Music Hall of Fame The International Latin Music Hall of Fame (ILMHF) was an annual event established in 1999 and held in New York City to honor artists who have largely contributed to the Latin music genre. In addition to the induction into the Hall of Fame, the a ...

in 2002. In 1996, she contributed to the AIDS benefit album ''

Red Hot + Rio ''Red Hot + Rio'' is a compilation album produced by Béco Dranoff and Paul Heck as part of the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series intended to promote AIDS awareness. This installment is a contemporary tribute to the bossa nova sound, especially the mus ...

'' produced by the Red Hot Organization, performing the song "

Desafinado "Desafinado" (a Portuguese word, usually rendered into English as "Out of Tune", or as "Off Key") is a 1959 bossa nova song and jazz standard composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim with lyrics (in Portuguese) by Newton Mendonça. Background "Desafin ...

" (Portuguese for "slightly out of tune", or "off-key") along with George Michael at his invitation. Although she did not officially retire, Gilberto announced in 2002 that she was taking "indefinite time off" from public performances. Her original recording of "

Fly Me to the Moon "Fly Me to the Moon", originally titled "In Other Words", is a song written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard. Frank Sinatra's 1964 version was closely associated with the Apollo missions ...

" was edited as a duet using a recording of the same song by Frank Sinatra for the soundtrack of ''

Down with Love ''Down with Love'' is a 2003 American romantic comedy film directed by Peyton Reed. It stars Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor and is a pastiche of the early-1960s American "no-sex sex comedies", such as '' Pillow Talk'' and '' Lover Come Back ...

'' (2003). Her recording "

Who Can I Turn To? "Who Can I Turn To?" (alternatively titled "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)") is a song written by English lyricists Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley and first published in 1964. Background The song was introduced in the musical ' ...

" was sampled by

The Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hi ...

in the song "Like That" from the 2005 album '' Monkey Business''. Her vocals on "Berimbau" were sampled by

Cut Chemist Lucas MacFadden (born October 4, 1972), better known as Cut Chemist, is an American DJ and record producer. He is a former member of Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli. He has collaborated with DJ Shadow on a number of projects. Early life Cut Chemist grad ...

in his song "The Garden". Her recording of "

Once I Loved "Once I Loved" ("O Amor Em Paz") is a bossa nova and jazz standard song composed in 1960 by Antônio Carlos Jobim, with lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes.Severiano, Jairo, and Zuza Homem de Mello ''A canção no tempo: 85 anos de músicas brasileiras, v ...

" was featured in the 2007 film '' Juno''. The "Astrud" track on Basia Trzetrzelewska's 1987 album, '' Time and Tide'', is a tribute to Gilberto. Gilberto is an advocate of

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...

Discography

* ''

'' (Verve, 1965) * ''

The Shadow of Your Smile "The Shadow of Your Smile", also known as "Love Theme from ''The Sandpiper''", is a popular song. The music was written by Johnny Mandel with the lyrics written by Paul Francis Webster. The song was introduced in the 1965 film '' The Sandpiper' ...

'' (Verve, 1965) * '' Look to the Rainbow'' (Verve, 1966) * '' A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness'' with Walter Wanderley (Verve, 1966) * '' Beach Samba'' (Verve, 1967) * '' Windy'' (Verve, 1968) * '' I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do'' (Verve, 1969) * '' September 17, 1969'' (Verve, 1969) * '' Gilberto with Turrentine'' (CTI, 1971) * ''Now'' (Perception, 1972) * ''That Girl from Ipanema'' (Image, 1977) * ''Plus'' with James Last (Polydor, 1986) * ''Jungle'' (Magya, 2002)

Bibliography

*''Bossa Nova: The Story of the Brazilian Music That Seduced the World'', Castro, Ruy. 2000. (Published in English in 2003.) * De Stefano, Gildo, ''Il popolo del samba, La vicenda e i protagonisti della storia della musica popolare brasiliana'', Preface by

Chico Buarque de Hollanda Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...

, Introduction by

Gianni Minà Gianni Minà (; Turin, 17 May 1938) is an Italian journalist, writer, magazine editor and television host. He has collaborated with both Italian and International newspapers and magazines; produced hundreds of reports for RAI (''Radiotelevisione ...

, RAI-ERI, Rome, 2005, * De Stefano, Gildo, ''Saudade Bossa Nova: musiche, contaminazioni e ritmi del Brasile'', Preface by

Chico Buarque Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...

, Introduction by

, Logisma Editore,

Firenze Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, 2017,

References

External links

*
"Desperately Seeking Astrud Gilberto"
by Joey Sweeney, ''Philadelphia Weekly'', June 5, 2002. (Archived at

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilberto, Astrud 1940 births Living people Grammy Award winners Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Bossa nova singers Brazilian jazz singers Brazilian songwriters Música Popular Brasileira singers HIV/AIDS activists MGM Records artists Pony Canyon artists Verve Records artists English-language singers from Brazil Spanish-language singers of Brazil Italian-language singers of Brazil French-language singers of Brazil German-language singers of Brazil Japanese-language singers of Brazil Brazilian people of German descent People from Bahia 20th-century Brazilian women singers 20th-century Brazilian singers 21st-century Brazilian women singers 21st-century Brazilian singers CTI Records artists Women in Latin music Brazilian emigrants to the United States