“Dindi”

A happy Monday to you, friends.

I have a lovely video for you today featuring this month’s featured artist, Gal Costa, with yet another giant of Brazilian music—Antonio Carlos Jobim (AKA Tom Jobim), one of the major forces behind the bossa nova movement, & a man whose songs have become classics in North American jazz circles almost as much as they are in Brazil: a very short list, with English titles: “The Girl from Impanema,” “Quiet Night of Quiet Stars,” “The Waters of March,” “No More Blues,” “One Note Samba,” & many more. Truly one of the 20th century’s greatest songwriters.

& while North Americans may associate his songs with the singing of Astrud Gilberto, as well as with João Gilberto & for those a bit more in the know, Elis Regina, it’s also true that Gal Costa is one of Jobim’s foremost interpreters. In fact, prior to her involvement in the Tropicalismo movement, which was more counter-culture, more inclusive of foreign influence, Gal Costa says that bossa nova was everything to her. In a 1988 Spin magazine article, Costa said, “I was fascinated by João Gilberto’s cultivated singing, his technique…And I was very radical. I only liked bossa nova, & anything that wasn’t bossa nova was mindless, a sellout…rock & roll, whatever.”

While Costa turned away from the bossa nova sound in favor of the more psychedelic Tropicàlia during the late 1960s & much of the 1970s, she eventually gravitated back to that style, & has made a number of recordings of the great bossa nova songs. Her vocal style is a bit less laid back than some singers associated with bossa nova—certainly very different from the Gilberto’s—João singing almost in a whisper, & Astrud in the musical equivalent of a “flat affect.”

Costa & Jobim had a notable concert together in Los Angeles in 1987 (YouTube link to the entire concert here); if you’re not up for the entire hour-long show, I’d still recommend this version of “Corcovado” (AKA “Quiet Night of Quiet Stars”) excerpted from it. But here we have a version of Jobim’s beautiful love song “Dindi” that's not from this show, but is from that same general period. It's a beautiful performance by both Costa & Jobim, & I must say the two of them have musical flirting down to a high art!

By the way, you’d probably figure this out, but just in case: the subtitles in this video are in Spanish, & Gal Costa is, of course, singing in Portuguese—hence the discrepancies.

Just wonderful in so many ways—hope you enjoy it, too!




Image links to its source at clickcamboriu.com.br