Joao (I Really Samba)

Performer: Joao Gilberto
Producer: Mayrton Bahia; Carmela Forsin
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: This 1991 record ended a decade-plus silence from the man who helped create bossa nova. Though JOAO features full orchestral backing, the arrangements by Clare Fischer dart in and around Gilberto's understated singing and rhythmically ingenious guitar work, never overpowering the artist or obscuring his unique vision. The effect is not unlike that achieved by Nelson Riddle in his orchestrations for Frank Sinatra. Though Gilberto tackles a tune in French ("Que Reste-T-Il de Nos Amours") and a Cole Porter classic in English ("You Do Something to Me"), even these are presented in the bossa nova style to which he has remained true throughout his career. The delicate beauty of Gilberto's voice, the soft-but-insistent pulse of his guitar, and the otherworldy grace of his artistic conception are as much in evidence on JOAO as they are on his legendary recordings from 30 years prior. As ever, the man proves to be simply incapable of making a wrong move.

New York Times (Publisher) (1/1/92) - "..The first album in many years by the soft- voiced Brazilian singer, guitarist, and bossa nova pioneer, finds his expressive murmur caresse in exquisite string arrangements."

Joao Gilberto, along with Antonio Carlos Jobim, defined the bossa nova sound. With his whispering vocals and subtle, rhythmically complex guitar work, he was the perfect conduit for Jobim's musical message. His collaborations with his wife Astrud and U.S. saxman Stan Getz sparked a worldwide bossa nova craze in the early 1960s. Decades later, after his daughter Bebel went on to bossa nova/pop crossover success, he remains the primary interpreter of the style.

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