Boa tarde, pessoal! Good afternoon, guys! Estão com vontade de ouvir um pouquinho de música? Are you in the mood for listening to some tunes? When we talk about Brazilian music, then definitely Bossa Nova comes to mind and everyone remembers its soft and harmonic melodies, the iconic songs that speak of the belezas naturais (natural beauty) and seu povo (its people). However, not everyone knows that the music genre goes beyond Rio de Janeiro and its famous Garota de Ipanema (Girl from Ipanema), and has its raízes (roots) on a musician from Bahia: João Gilberto. The musician, who transformed Brazil’s image by inventing the Bossa Nova, recently faleceu (passed) at the age of 88 now in July, and has since been honored for his legado (legacy) to world music that has influenced countless cantores (singers). If you want to know a little more about the musician and his songs, this is the right place.

The musician João Gilberto (photo by Tuca Vieira from São Paulo, Brazil [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

If for Brazilian music the influence of the singer is undeniable, the same is also true on the international scene. John Gilberto was reconhecido (recognized) and elogiado (praised) by musicians as diverse as Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Madonna, Eric Clapton, David Bowie, Ella Fitzgerald and Bob Dylan, as well as French philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. And if that is not enough, João Gilberto also ganhou (won) four Grammys, including the best album of the year, during the heyday of Beatlemania in 1965.

Did you enjoy learning a little more about this great musician and inventor of Bossa Nova? How about bringing some peacefulness and class to your day with some songs from this lenda (legend)? Just click on the link below to listen to one of his first albums, Chega de Saudade:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQC4Ye7hr9Y

Aproveitem! Enjoy!