Vocal CD Reissue of the Month - "João Gilberto"

Vocal CD Reissue of the Month
"João Gilberto" (Odeon/Él-Cherry Red) 1961/2012

Arranged by João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim & Walter Wanderley
Executive Producer: Ismael Corrêa (credited as Musical Director on the original LP)

After the big sales of the European CD releases of João Gilberto's landmark debut album "Chega de Saudade" (in January 2010) and its follow-up "O Amor, O Sorriso e a Flor" (in January 2011) by the UK label Él Records, that same English company is now announcing the CD reissue of Gilberto's third and last album for Odeon (now EMI), simply titled "Joao Gilberto," recorded in 1961. As shown above, the Él logo was added to the original cover art, replacing Odeon's logo. The original catalog number (MOFB 3202), the original liner notes (by Ismael Correa) and the name of Francisco Pereira, who did the front cover photo, were deleted. This is a surreal situation: due to the long Gilberto X EMI battle (he already won the law suit, but didn't receive a penny yet), EMI can't reissue these three albums. But Él did it, based in the 50-year term of copyright protection that now transformed Gilberto's albums on public domain items in England. More: all the three aforementioned albums were already reissued by the Italian label Doxy, which will be reuniting them on a 3-CD box set scheduled for release next March 10.

The "João Gilberto" CD will be reissued in Europe on January 9, 2012 --with 23 bonus tracks (!) performed by other artists -- under the catalog number ACMEM223, with 35 tracks in total. Él is a division of the London-based Cherry Red Records Ltd., distributed in Europe by Pinnacle. It will soon be available also in Japan, distributed by the Solid Viper label on January 25 (catalog number CDSOL 7682), which achieved big success with the "unofficial" CD releases of the two previous Gilberto's albums.

Besides the 12 tracks from the original vinyl LP, there are 23 bonus tracks performed by other artists. Here's the complete tracklist:
JOÃO GILBERTO
1. Samba da Minha Terra (Samba of My Land)
2. O Barquinho (The Little Boat)
3. Bolinha de Papel (Little Paper Ball)
4. Saudade da Bahia (Longing for Bahia)
5. A Primeira Vez (The First Time)
6. O Amor em Paz (Love and Peace -sic; the correct English title is "Once I Loved")
7. Você e Eu (You and I)
8. Trenzinho - Trem de Ferro (Little Train of Iron)
9. Coisa Mais Linda (Most Beautiful Thing)
10. Presente de Natal (Christmas Present)
11. Insensatez (How Insensitive)
12. Este Seu Olhar (That Look You Wear)
BONUS TRACKS
13. O Barquinho (The Little Boat) - Maysa
14. Você E Eu (You And I) - Maysa
15. Bim Bom - Oscar Castro Neves
16. Meditação (Meditation) - Oscar Castro Neves
17. Só Em Teus Braços (Only In Your Arms) - Oscar Castro Neves
18. O Samba da Minha Terra (Samba Of My Land) - Lucio Alves
19. Samba de Uma Nota Só (One-Note Samba) - Leny Andrade
20. O Barquinho (The Little Boat) - Agostinho Dos Santos
21. O Barquinho (The Little Boat) - Walter Wanderley
22. O Samba da Minha Terra (Samba Of My Land) - Walter Wanderley
23. Saudade da Bahia (Longing For Bahia) - Walter Wanderley
24. Aos Pés da Cruz (At The Foot Of The Cross) - Walter Wanderley
25. Coisa Mais Linda (Most Beautiful Thing) - Carlos Lyra
26. Você E Eu (You And I) - Carlos Lyra
27. Manhã De Carnival (Morning Of The Carnival) - Sylvia Telles & Barney Kessel
28. Quiet Nights (Corcovado) - Jon Hendricks
29. You And I (Você E Eu) - Jon Hendricks
30. Love And Peace (O Amor Em Paz) - Jon Hendricks
31. Longing For Bahia (Saudade da Bahia) - Jon Hendricks
32. Little Train Of Iron (Trenzinho - Trem De Ferro) - Jon Hendricks
33. No More Blues (Chega De Saudade) - Jon Hendricks
34. The Duck (O Pato) - Jon Hendricks
35. Once Again (Outra Vez) - Jon Hendricks

This is El/Cherry Red's press-release:
The third album in João Gilberto’s trilogy of blueprints for bossa nova, following his celebrated 1959 debut, Chega de Saudade (ACMEM179CD) and its sequel, O Amor, o Sorriso e a Flor (Love, a Smile and a Flower) (ACMEM201CD) which followed a year later.

Produced by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Walter Wanderley, "João Gilberto” combines a splendid bossa nova repertoire of Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and Carlos Lyra originals such as Insensatez (How Insensitive), Este seu olhar (That Look You Wear) and Voce e eu (You and Me) with Gilberto's interpretations of songs from Brazil's musical past; Saudade de Bahia (Longing for Bahia) and O Samba da minha terra (Samba of My Land) by Dorival Caymmi, and Geraldo Pereira's Bolinha de Papel (Little Paper Ball).

The performances of these enchanting songs display the full range of João Gilberto’s singular style; the intimate voice and his innovative, linear approach to the guitar that revolutionized Brazilian music and the international pop scene. Our edition comprises the original (long out of print) "João Gilberto” album supplemented by performances of songs from the trilogy by such important and diverse con-temporaries as Carlos Lyra, Walter Wanderley, Leny Andrade, Oscar Castro Neves, Agostingo dos Santos, Sylvia Telles, Lucio Alves, Maysa and Jon Hendricks.
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Prior to Gilberto's albums, Él had released some interesting compilations featuring Luiz Bonfá, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Laurindo Almeida, Carmen Miranda and, in the jazz field, Gary McFarland, Mel Tormé, Yusef Lateef, Cal Tjader, Ahmad Jamal, Gabor Szabo and Grady Tate, amongst others. They had also reissued albums by Jobim ("Sinfonia do Rio de Janeiro"), Nara Leão ("Nara '67"), Rogério Duprat ("A Banda Tropicalista do Duprat") and Rita Lee ("Build Up"), among other rarities such as the soundtrack to Brigitte Bardot's debut film, "And God Created Woman," featuring Brazilian percussionist extraordinaire Jadir de Castro.

Other Brazilian music CDs currently available on Él Records catalog: