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Brazilian born ASTRUD GILBERTO, whose name was synonymous with the Bossa Nova movement in the 1960s, is an Artist with roots firmly planted in Brazilian music. Her music has become an interesting combination of the sensual rhythms of Brazil and American Pop and Jazz. Many artists have reported to have been inspired by her musical style, among them; Basia, Sade, Sinead O'Connor, Michael Franks, Pat Metheney, Level 42's Mike Lindup, Suzanne Vega, and Madonna.  Astrud
was first introduced to the World at large in 1964 through "THE GIRL
FROM IPANEMA", the Grammy-winning recording with Stan Getz and her
then-husband Joao Gilberto, the father of the Bossa Nova. Astrud's recordings
exposed the nations of the world to the sensuality of Brazilian music and
to her unique vocal interpretations of American music for instance, "The
Shadow of your Smile", "It Might as well be Spring", "Fly
Me to the Moon", "Look to the Rainbow" (title track from
her album with Gil Evans), "Love Story", Etc... Following the hit with "IPANEMA", her recording career quickly took off. Her first solo effort "THE ASTRUD GILBERTO ALBUM", was an immediate best-seller and was itself nominated as NARA's "Album of the Year". Her next albums were also chart-toppers. Some of these early albums have been re-released, and are now available on CD. Her talents became much in demand in other areas as well. She appeared in two motion pictures (though she is very secretive about the titles of these movies, you may catch one of them on late at night, on cable...). She recorded the sound track for "THE DEADLY AFFAIR" with Quincy Jones, and appeared in every popular U.S. Television talk/variety show. TV specials were built around her in Europe (one of them, an award winning production by German TV, with cartoon illustrations by Peter Max), Japan and Africa. For many years she was the voice of Eastern Airlines, for which she recorded award-winning commercials.  In
the early seventies, Astrud revealed another facet of her talents, her songwriting,
which was introduced on the records "Astrud Gilberto Now" and
"That Girl From Ipanema". In 1976, one of her compositions ("Live
Today") received an award at the Tokyo Music Festival. In the early
eighties, Astrud Gilberto reformed her touring group which became a sextet
comprised of piano, bass, drums, trombone (instead of saxophone), guitar
and percussion. She continued with this group, to perform in Europe, Asia,
Canada, and the United States. Her shows are usually sold out and at many
venues she has broken the house record in attendance. Her album "Astrud Gilberto plus the James Last Orchestra" solidified her career as a songwriter. The album includes a few of her original compositions of which "Champagne & Caviar" and "Amor e Som" are best known. The release of this album combined with the re-issue of some of her early records have created a whole new generation of fans for Astrud Gilberto all over the world in addition to her already large number of followers. The "Astrud Gilberto plus the James Last Orchestra" album was extremely well received by critics as well as fellow artists. Among those who have openly expressed their admiration for this work are Donald Fagen and George Michael. In 1992, Astrud received the Latin Jazz U.S.A. Award for Lifetime achievement and her outstanding contribution to Latin Jazz music. In 1995, Astrud became the first "Jazz" Artist to sing in the extremely trendy "House of Blues" club in Los Angeles (until then, exclusively Blues/Rock), selling out on a Tuesday night, and recently has broken house records in the very popular "Jazz Cafe" club in London. Astrud continues to bring in a young "cross-over" type of audience.  As
she revealed in some of her rarely given interviews, Astrud feels that one
of her career's greatest rewards is having had the chance to record with
so many legendary players including two of her idols, Chet Baker and Gil
Evans. In 1990, Astrud Gilberto, along with her sons Marcelo Gilberto and Gregory Lasorsa, formed Gregmar Productions, Inc. In the years that followed, Astrud toured extensively developing her live show, writing new material, and building Gregmar Studios, a division of Gregmar Productions. The first project for this production team was a song for a record album tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim titled "Heirs To Jobim". The song "Forever Green" features saxophonist Michael Brecker, and was released on PsFlag/BMG Victor in 1995. Astrud has recorded a duet with French pop singer Etienne Daho called "Les Bordes de Seine", for Virgin Records, released in the Fall of 1996 on the album "Eden". Astrud has also recorded the Brazilian standard "Desafinado" as a duet with George Michael, for Polygram's Verve Records on its Antilles label, on an album called "Red Hot + Rio" also released in the fall of 1996. This album benefiting AIDS is the Red Hot organization's ninth AIDS benefit album, and includes songs by many other artists. The first album from Gregmar, released in Japan and the Asian territories in April of 1996, on the Pony Canyon label, comprised of various live performances recorded in NYC in 1989, is titled "Astrud Gilberto - Live in New York".  A studio album now in the final stages of recording, produced by Astrud and Marcelo Gilberto, will be comprised entirely of Astrud Gilberto's original compositions with the exception of one American Standard. The album, titled "Temperance", was released at the end of 1997, also on the Pony Canyon label. Guests on the album include Michael Franks and the New York Voices. Brazilian music has always been a major force in the worldwide music scene and Astrud Gilberto has always been at the apex of this fusion of styles that of late has become so powerful. Astrud seems to have her finger on the pulse of the music of the world as her music is always timely - yet timeless - as well as universal. To top |
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| Copyright © 1999 Helga Kristín Gunnarsdóttir | ||
