The most iconic voice of bossa nova, the Brazilian Astrud Gilberto, passed away this Monday at the age of 83. She reported the sad news about her granddaughter, also a singer Sofía Gilberto, in a heartfelt message through her Instagram account in which, however, she did not detail the causes of her death or the place of her death.
This is how one of the great legends of the genre leaves, the last survivor of that album, Getz/Gilberto, who put this music with Brazilian roots on the global map whose smooth but constant cadence has made so many fall in love. In short, the woman who, together with her husband, sang —or rather whispered— in English with an undisguised Brazilian accent, The Girl from Ipanema, which almost instantly became the indisputable hymn of bossa nova, is gone.
Born in Salvador de Bahía in 1940, to a German father and a Brazilian mother, her relationship with music has a lot to do with her sentimental life. She married the guitarist João Gilberto in 1959, a pioneer of that genre at that time in full gestation. Four years later, her role had to be limited to that of a simple accompanist for her husband on the trip to New York where he was going to record the presentation album for the company with saxophonist Stan Getz and pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim. bossa nova to the world. However, and despite not having any previous experience, Astrud Gilberto ended up participating in the recording of two songs.
He was only 22 years old, but his way of singing La chica de Ipanema y Corcovado marked the canon forever: this is how bossa should be sung. After her, thousands of interpreters have taken as a reference that light and unforgettable start of "Quiet Night of Quiet Stars..." or the verses of La garota that seem to timidly reproduce the subsequent saxophone solo.
Shamefully, she will remain as her husband and Getz forgot to include that inexperienced young lady in the record credits, an error that was corrected in subsequent editions. However, Astrud Gilberto charged the minimum for that session —120 dollars— while its authors, especially the American saxophonist, benefited for years from the succulent benefits of copyright thanks to the brilliant success of the album. In addition, Getz not only did not admit his bad faith, but always tried to take credit for discovering Astrud's talent.
Thus, the album internationalized bossa nova and, consequently, all its protagonists rose to fame. Astrud Gilberto went from being an amateur to the icon of one of the fashion styles of the sixties. Since then he has given voice to the melodies of the great composers of the genre, from Tom Jobim to Vinícius de Moraes. Other classics such as Manhã de Carnaval, Água de beber or Mas que nada passed through his vocal chords and, as was customary, he also dared with other genres, highlighting his interpretation of jazz standards.
Already divorced from João, she kept the last name with which she became known for her fruitful solo career, which began with Getz, whom she accompanied on his tours. For many years it was thought that she was also romantically linked to the saxophonist and that precisely this affair would have precipitated her divorce. However, this version has never been entirely clear. Separated shortly after Getz, she released her 1965 debut: The Astrud Gilberto Album. The album contributed to enhance her personality and consolidated her as the voice in capital letters of the bossa nova.
Astrud Gilberto lived his golden age between the end of the sixties and the beginning of the seventies, a decade in which he even dared with his own compositions. He maintained his musical activity until the eighties when he began a gradual withdrawal that was only interrupted on a few occasions. His last album was Jungle and he released it in 2002 with little success. The voice and icon of bossa nova lived his last years in the US, away from the media spotlight, especially in his country of origin, and being able to calmly dedicate himself to another of his passions, painting.
Her granddaughter Sofía paid her particular tribute like this: "My grandmother Astrud Gilberto made this song for me, her name is Linda Sofia. She even wanted my name to be Linda Sofia. Life is beautiful, as the song says, but I come to bring you the sad news that my grandmother became a star today, and she is next to my grandfather João Gilberto. Astrud was the real girl who brought the bossa nova of Ipanema to the world. She was a pioneer and the best. At the age of 22 she lent her voice to the English version of The Girl from Ipanema and gained international fame. The song, a bossa nova anthem, became the second most played in the world thanks mainly to her. I love and will love Astrud forever and she was the face and voice of bossa nova in most parts of the planet. Astrud will always be in our hearts and right now we have to celebrate Astrud."
