Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto, best known for her performance in The Girl from Ipanema, the famous English version of the Brazilian bossa nova song Garota de Ipanema, written by composer Antonio Carlos Jobim with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes .
Astrud Gilberto was born in Salvador de Bahia in 1940 under the name Astrud Evangelina Weinert, which she changed after marrying the famous singer and guitarist Joao Gilberto. In 1963 she accompanied her husband to New York, USA, where he was to record a record with the American saxophonist Stan Getz: during the recording, the producer Creed Taylor suggested making a version of “Garota de Ipanema”. sung partly in Brazilian, partly in English, with the aim of making it known to American audiences as well. Taylor had Joao Gilberto audition the Brazilian and English parts for his wife Astrud, who had no singing experience but was the only one in the recording studio who spoke English well.
The song was recorded with the English title “The Girl from Ipanema” and was initially included on the 1964 Getz/Gilberto album, but was later released as a 45 rpm single with the Brazilian parts cut out and only the English Version was sung by Astrud Gilberto. The song was a huge hit in the US and Astrud Gilberto has since embarked on a successful career in the music business. After a few months he divorced and in 1965 he recorded his first solo record. In the following years he moved to the USA, where he worked with many important musicians such as Quincy Jones, Gil Evans and Chet Baker. “The Girl from Ipanema” is still one of the most played jazz standards in the world today.
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