One of my favorite ways to getting into a future trip is to start by getting into its music beforehand. While I have not yet been to Brazil, I have leapt into its music long ago. It started with the classic made by musical greats Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, The Girl from Ipanema. Legend has it, the producer of the album (Getz/Gilberto) thought Astrid Gilberto's vocals were terrible and planned to scratch them from the album. Fortunately, Getz convinced the producer to change his mind by threatening to walk off the project. Getz was right and the song remains a classic.
Brazil continues its rich heritage of musical performers and In The Know Travelers has a few suggestions to get travelers in the mood for Brazil and for music fans looking to stretch their international horizons.
Gilberto Gil is to Brazilian music as Bob Dylan is to American music. Both are icons and have been around forever. Gil still puts out fun, syncopated Brazilian pop that creeps into infectious "“ so be careful. A great starting point is a recording called, Quanta, which was released in 1997. However, it is hard to go wrong with a Gilberto Gil record.
For those less daring, consider Brazilian music compilations by David Byrne of the Talking Heads. These albums feature Gil and other Brazilian heavyweights: Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento, Jorge Ben, and Maria Bethania to name just a few.
All these recordings and more can be found on ITKT's online store. Enjoy!
Written by Devin Galaudet
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