 The
honey-toned chanteuse on the surprise Brazilian crossover hit
"The Girl from Ipanema," Astrud Gilberto parlayed her previously unscheduled
appearance (and professional singing debut) on the song into a lengthy
career that resulted in nearly a dozen albums for Verve and a successful
performing career that lasted into the '90s. Though her appearance
at the studio to record "Girl from Ipanema" was due only to her husband
Joao, one of the most famed Brazilian artists of the century, Gilberto's
singular, quavery tone and undisguised naivet� propelled the
song into the charts and influenced a variety of sources in worldwide
pop music.
1.chanteuse: n. 女歌女(尤指)女民谣歌手
2.quavery: adj. 震音的, 颤声的
Born
in Bahia, Gilberto moved to Rio de Janeiro at an early age. She'd
had no professional musical experience of any kind until 1963, the
year of her visit to New York with her husband, Jo鉶 Gilberto, in
a recording session headed by Stan Getz. Getz had already recorded
several albums influenced by Brazilian rhythms, and Verve teamed
him with the cream of Brazilian music, Antonio Carlos Jobim and
Jo鉶 Gilberto, for his next album. Producer Creed Taylor wanted a
few English vocals for maximum crossover potential, and as it turned
out, Astrud was the only Brazilian present with any grasp of the
language. After her husband laid down his Portuguese vocals for
the first verse of his and Jobim's composition, "The Girl from Ipanema,"
Astrud provided a hesitant, heavily accented second verse
in English.
1.hesitant: adj. 犹豫的, 吞吞吐吐的, 犹豫不决
Not
even credited on the resulting LP, Getz/Gilberto, Astrud
finally gained fame over a year later, when "The Girl from Ipanema"
became a number five hit in mid-1964. The album became the best-selling
jazz album up to that point, and made Gilberto a star across America.
Before the end of the year, Verve capitalized on the smash with
the release of Getz Au Go Go, featuring a Getz live date
with Gilberto's vocals added later. Her first actual solo album,
The Astrud Gilberto Album, was released in May 1965. Though
it barely missed the Top 40, the LP's blend of Brazilian classics
and ballad standards proving quite infectious with easy-listening
audiences.
1.ballad: n. 歌谣
Though
she never returned to the pop charts in America, Verve proved to
be quite understanding for Astrud Gilberto's career, pairing her
with ace arranger Gil Evans for 1966's Look to the Rainbow
and Brazilian organist/arranger Walter Wanderley for the dreamy
A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness, released later that year.
She remained a huge pop star in Brazil for the rest of the 1960s
and '70s, but gradually disappeared in America after her final album
for Verve in 1969. In 1971, she released a lone album for CTI (with
Stanley Turrentine) but was mostly forgotten in the US until 1984,
when "Girl from Ipanema" re-charted in Britain on the tails of a
neo-bossa craze. Gilberto gained worldwide distribution for
1987's Astrud Gilberto Plus the James Last Orchestra.
1.craze: n. 狂热
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