"Bossa Nova" (also known as Brazilian Jazz),
together with Samba, is the best known style of Brazilian music outside
Brazil. It is also the most appreciated by foreigners. Its melancolic songs
are almost always played in an intimist mood by a solo singer on the acoustic
guitar.
The most famous song is "A Garota de Ipanema"
(The Girl from Ipanema), written by Tom Jobim, the most profilic of the
Bossa Nova composers.
In this page, I keep track of unlikely places
where I have heard the song.
In Portuguese, the lyrics goes as:
Olha que coisa mais linda
Mais cheia de graca
E ela menina, que vem e que passa
Num doce balanco a caminho do mar...
There is also a English version, usually sung
by Astrud Gilberto, wife of Joao Gilberto (the "creator" of Bossa Nova).
I've read somewhere that after "Immagine"
by John Lennon, "A Garota de Ipanema" is the most executed song in the
planet. I'm live witness of this phenomena. Once, in a sushi bar in Tokyo,
listening to the song (again), I decided to start compiling all the places
where I heard it. The list has been growing and growing.
To listen to a very cheesy (sorry, that is
the only one I found) version of the song, click here
Here is the list of unlikely places where
I've heard the song:
Madam Kwan's, a Malay/Chinese restaurant in
Kuala
Lumpur (Dec/99). It is in the Bangsar district, which is where people
go at night to see and be seen. Their specialty is Nasi Lemak, the environment
is nice. They were playing Kenny G's "Classics" album over and over (we
were getting sick of it) and, of course, the Girl from Ipanema was one
of the songs.
Hotel and Ristorante Marco Polo in Budapest.
Live, played by the Jazz band. It is a very touristy restaurant (I was
not eating there, just passed by) on the main square, by the Danube, across
from the excellent Gerbeaud Confiserie.
Chloe's Bistro, a bar/restaurant in the very
best corner of Melbourne.
There you can sit in Chloe's company, have a perfectly poured Guiness,
try a competent steak, see urban life passing through the window or watch
old folks talking about old times and couples talking about the future.
L'osteria de Santo Antonio, an excellent restaurant
in Mexico City's
Historic Center where you can drink a couple of Tequilas with Sangrita
followed by a delicious "Chile a Nogada" in XVI-century surroundings.
They play "elevator music" and, of course, the Girl of Ipanema came up
twice during dinner.
Dance floor in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel
in San Jose. It is a place to go for a coffe break and live danceable music
on weekend nights. The service is not as fast as Starbucks, but the envirnonment
is nice and the chairs are more confortable. I've heard several Bossa
Nova songs played by the Jazz/Blues band there.
"Kiss", a tiny bar in Tokyo.
Its space is not more than a 20ft long, door-wide corridor with high-chairs
in one side and a space to circulate in the other side. They charge $9
for a bottle of Corona, play only elevator music, don't have decent food
and, for some reason I could not figure out, groups of young women like
to hang out there.
A smoky bar in downtown Manila.
Went there with a group of locals. You can listen to an ecletic mix of
music ranging from pop to techno to classic rock and drink "Red Horse",
a strong beer produced by the local San Miguel brewery. The DJ can go from
Queen to Tom Jobin without missing a beat :o).
In Singapore
in 2000, at a bar/pub in the Boat Quay (forgot the name of the bar).
In a Korean-American restaurant, off Broadway
in New York City, Mar/02.
As part of the soundtrack of several really
bad Mexican movies and American car commercials and Mervin California's
Ads.
A terribly bad sushi bar in the Shinjuku red-light
district in Tokyo.
I was walking around (just walking around) and got hungry. At 2AM, there
were not many options. The Asahi beer was still ok, the sushi sucks. When
I heard the song there (second time in the same trip to Tokyo), I had the
idea of start compiling all the places where I hear it, that is how this
list started.
Isa's house. I gave him a Bossa Nova CD as a
birthday gift.
Sarau do BSA,
Brazilian Student Association in Stanford. Played by Roberto in the sax.
Otmar Liebert concert in Saratoga, CA. He plays
"fusion" Flamenco and included an interpretation of the song in his 2001
concert and CD.
Brazilian Food restaurants outside Brazil: Joao's
in Santa Clara (the food is just ok, but Joao is very friendly), Brasil
in Santa Cruz (very simple, but the feijoada is competent), Cafe do Brasil
in San Francisco (good and plentiful Brazilian food).
