Joao Gilberto

Joao Gilberto’s music crystalized the optimism that typified Brazil at the start of the 1960s. Taking inspiration from American soft jazz, artists like Gilberto and Antônio Carlos Jobim gave birth to the genre of “bossa nova” – new beat. With crooner-esque vocals, finger-picked guitars and jazzy harmonies, it was the perfect music for a Brazil that was looking to become a global power. Gilberto became a global star, teaming up with American saxophonist Stan Getz for the worldwide #1 “Girl from Ipanema”. However, a military coup in 1964 brought the party to a premature end, and Gilberto stayed in self-imposed exile for nearly two decades. Right-wing politicians never warmed to him: Bolsonaro’s “memorial” for Gilberto simply referred to him as a “well-known celebrity”, rather than the godfather of Brazil’s music. Gilberto was notoriously ornery and obsessed with perfecting his recordings: one of his pet cats is alleged to have committed suicide by jumping out the window while Gilberto was replaying the same chord sequence for hours on end.

Joao Gilberto
10 June 1931 – 6 July 2019
Died aged 88 (two hits)