Rio de Janeiro, Mar 2 (EFE).- Brazil's world-famous Ipanema
beach, where Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes spotted the "tall and
tan and young and lovely" lass who inspired them to write the hit
song "Girl from Ipanema," was the scene this weekend of a concert to
mark 50 years of Bossa Nova.
The event, which featured 13 legendary Bossa Nova performers and
some new acts that are keeping the Brazilian rhythm going, also
celebrated the 443rd anniversary of the founding of the city of Rio
de Janeiro.
The free concert drew hundreds of admirers of Bossa Nova, which
means "new wave" or "new thing," a mixture of Brazilian popular
music and samba with jazz that took the music world by storm in the
late 1950s and early 1960s.
Experts say Bossa Nova was born with the 1958 release of "Cancao
do Amor Demais," which featured the vocals of Elizete Cardoso,
accompanied by guitarist Joao Gilberto, interpreting songs composed
by Jobim and De Moraes.
The late Jobim and De Moraes, who composed several of the most
famous Bossa Nova songs, and Joao Gilberto, who still performs
occasionally, mainly abroad, were the three biggest names of the
rhythm, which defined Brazil internationally for many years.
Ipanema was selected for Saturday's concert because it was the
place where Jobim, who died in New York on Nov. 4, 1994, and De
Moraes, who died in 1980, saw Helo Pinheiro, the girl who inspired
"Girl from Ipanema," the most famous of Bossa Nova songs.
The tanned, green-eyed blonde became Brazil's foremost symbol of
feminine grace during the 1960s and 1970s after Jobim and De Moraes
identified her in 1965 as the muse who inspired the song about the
girl with the gait "like a samba, that swings so cool and sways so
gentle."
The song came out in 1962 during a memorable performance in a Rio
de Janeiro bar with Jobim on piano, Gilberto on guitar and De Moraes
handling the vocals.
According to legend, the "Girl from Ipanema" was composed when
Jobim and De Moraes were sitting in the Veloso bar, close to the
famous Rio tourist beach, and saw the beautiful blonde, who was 15
at the time, walking by.
Saturday's concert featured Bossa Nova legends like Joao Donato,
Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal and Wanda Sa, as well as younger
performs such as Maria Rita and Fernanda Takai.
Maria Rita is the daughter of late singer Ellis Regina, one of
the most famous Bossa Nova singers.
Takai is a young singer for a rock band who recently did a solo
project that focused on the music of Nara Leao.
The concert presented classic Bossa Nova, the rhythm that was
officially declared part of Rio de Janeiro's cultural heritage last
year, with songs like "Chega de Saudade," "Aguas de Marzo," "Manha
de Carnaval" and "Se todos fossem iguais a voce." EFE
cm/hv
