Getz/Gilberto

Originally released in March 1964, this collaboration between saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist João Gilberto came at seemingly the end of the bossa nova craze Getz himself had sparked in 1962 with Jazz Samba, his release with American guitarist Charlie Byrd. Jazz Samba remains the only jazz album to reach number one in the pop charts. In fact, the story goes that Getz had to push for the release of Getz/Gilberto since the company did not want to compete with its own hit; it was a good thing he did. Getz/Gilberto, which featured composer Antonio Carlos Jobim on piano, not only yielded the hit "Girl from Ipanema" (sung by Astrud Gilberto, the guitarist's wife, who had no professional experience) but also "Corcovado" ("Quiet Night")--an instant standard, and the definitive version of "Desafinado." Getz/Gilberto spent 96 weeks in the charts and won four Grammys. It remains one of those rare cases in popular music where commercial success matches artistic merit. Bossa nova's "cool" aesthetic--with its understated rhythms, rich harmonies, and slightly detached delivery--had been influenced, in part, by cool jazz. Gilberto in particular was a Stan Getz fan. Getz, with his lyricism, the bittersweet longing in his sound, and his restrained but strong swing, was the perfect fit. His lines, at once decisive and evanescent, focus the rest of the group's performance without overpowering. A classic. --Fernando Gonzalez
Customer Review: Wonderful Music!
Wonderful and relaxing music. Very soft, wonderful sound tracks. There are two soundtracks of "The Girl From Ipanema," with the first being the ultimate recording. I would highly recommend this CD for anyone who enjoys cool jazz or any relaxing International-style music.
Customer Review: A Serendipitous Masterpiece
In history, seemingly all great things are happenstance. One could certainly say the same about this serendipitous recording. A quiet, gentle, beautiful record of 8 songs (and 2 reprises) it created a time capsule of that era that surprisingly stands up to todays standards. A great album to relax to, put it on when you need to seriously unwind without drugs or alcohol. It works amazingly well.

Most of us are very familiar with the dance between peace and chaos. Everything is going smoothly or at least nothing stands out as being a major challenge. We feel like life has allowed us to take a deep breath. We feel we have finally reached balance. Then along comes something to deal with, something that demands our focus, and something that re-orders our priorities. We wonder when we are going to finally reach a peaceful equilibrium and blissful homeostasis.

In his book Toxic Success, Paul Pearsall writes that this state of balance isn't something that is natural for us. Balance does not happen in nature; there are times of peace, followed by upheaval and then the pattern repeats itself. As humans, he says, we may desire arriving at some perfect state, but this is not our nature. Life is always in process. For many of us, this doesn't feel like good news.

I used to think whenever I achieved some desired state that I would be "done". As someone who likes to get things done I started to notice that no matter how neatly the goal or vision seemed to convey completion to me, once achieved there was always something beyond that achievement, state or idea. The old saying that the top of one mountain is the bottom of the next took on personal meaning for me. However, the question occurred to me, if we could ever be done or complete, would we need to be students of the school of life on planet Earth?

Chaos allows us to create and recreate and can catapult us to the next level of personal and spiritual development if we work with it rather than resist it. If we yield to chaos and learn from it, chaos can be an incredible teacher. For those of us who love a bit of control, this idea may feel challenging to integrate.

I'm not talking about cheap contrived drama when I write of chaos. I'm writing about chaos that arises naturally from participation in life which forces us out of our comfort zone and spurs us on to our next level of human potential. If we feel like we needn't grow or learn anymore, we aren't advancing the plot. Perhaps paradoxically, this is not to suggest that you are not whole as you are, you are, but your expression in the world can be deepened and developed by embracing change and the dance between peace and chaos.

The chaos of the world can certainly enhance our spiritual development. We can embrace both the temporal and the spiritual and each can inform the choices of the other. A Buddhist may characterize this vacillation as the dance between samsara and nirvana. Samsara is about life in the world and nirvana is the blissful peace state of the enlightened master.

Many of us feel we want to be only in the state of nirvana and we get very discouraged and even plain bummed out when we have to deal with messiness of samsara. We are tempted to think if only we could be on a mountain top and in the lotus position blissed-out we would be happy! But chances are good you would still be struggling with samsara even then. Maybe your bum would be sore from sitting so long, maybe you would feel cold and chapped sitting on a Tibetan mountain top and perhaps you would miss your loved ones.

If we could accept from the beginning that temporal life is always in a state of change, we might be able to accept the dance as we are moving to the music.

Hindus believe that the chaos we speak of is maya or illusion. This perspective may help us deal with the chaos but not get caught up in it. Further, if we yearn neither for peace or chaos, samsara or nirvana, but accept both states, as if we are holding them gently in our open hand, we may develop and deepen our inner peace and truth that can be a great comfort to us in times up change, upheaval and struggle. Let's forgive ourselves for not yet operating from the perspective of an enlightened master and accept ourselves as learning pilgrims on life's journey with its many vicissitudes.

I help women from all over the world design a simplified, meaningful, purposeful and joyful life based on their own strengths, values and priorities. I also coach women towards their ultimate purpose, full of spiritual meaning, connection, humor, compassion and assist them in overcoming any existential suffering. I utilize a strategic and holistic approach in transforming challenges into transcendent integration of joy. I have nearly 25 years experience in working in people helping professions.

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