floating on the silence that surrounds us

97.

getz / gilberto
stan getz and joão gilberto [verve records, 1964]

i can't claim to be an afcionado, a jazzbo, a finger snappin' obsessive bip boppin' to the local unsung clarinetist in a boozy, dimly-lit bar. i don't worship at the twin altars of 'Trane and Bird. i know i'm putting my ignorance on display, but, to these untrained, unsophisticated ears, a lot of jazz becomes repetitive and boring after the initial self-satisfaction of "yeah, i'm listening to jazz!" dissipates. but this record, all mosquito net dreams and crashing tropical waves, avoids that pratfall. the interplay between voice and instrument is the key component: João's sultry sensuous, understated Portuguese croon and the endearing broken-hearted broken English warble of his wife Astrud wrestle with Stan Getz' melancholic saxophone vamps. of course, almost all the songs, written mainly by pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim, have become "standards," especially SMASH HIT "the girl from ipanema," which contains one of the most ingeniously addictive melodies EVER. though the history of pop music is littered with unashamed cultural plundering/appropriation in a never-ending quest for the "exotic," this record sets a precedent by treating a non-Western form of music - bossa nova - as a source of inspiration rather than exploitation. plus, it's really fucking classy.

sex on the beach moment: "para machucar meu coração" is the moment at that classy hotel cocktail party in rio when you first ask that gorgeous woman you met while outside smoking an expensive cigarette to dance. we all want to be this, we all want to jet-setting, worldly, wealthy citizens with panache, wit, and elegance and not the twisted, dreary, drab proletarians we are, RIGHT?