A legendary 1962 concert by João Gilberto & Antonio Carlos Jobim will be released next month

After many unofficial issues (each one with a different cover!), a true collectors' item among Brazilian music connoisseurs, "Um Encontro No Au Bon Gourmet," will be commercially released for the first time next month, on March 3rd, by the Doxy label. Initially, it will be available only on a 140 gram audiophile clear vinyl (ACV) LP, in a limited and numbered issue. Tomorrow it becomes available for pre-order on www.amazon.com

Recorded live (on August 2, 1962) during an engagement at the Au Bon Gourmet nightclub in Rio de Janeiro, the concert reunites bossa nova legends Joao Gilberto (vocals & acoustic guitar), Antonio Carlos Jobim (piano), Vinicius de Moraes (vocals), Milton Banana (drums), Octavio Bailly (acoustic bass) and the stunning group Os Cariocas (by then consisting of Severino Filho, Badeco, Quartera and Luiz Roberto).

That concert introduced a "new" song, "Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl From Ipanema"), performed with a seldom-heard intro. The following year, Gilberto, Jobim and Banana -- plus Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto -- would record the internationally famous version included on the million-selling and multi-Grammy winning album "Getz/Gilberto."

Among the other tunes performed on that concert are two more later selected for "Getz/Gilberto": "Só Danço Samba" (known here in the U.S. as "Jazz 'n' Samba") and "Corcovado" ("Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars"), both composed by Jobim. The tracklist also includes "Samba de Uma Nota Só" ("One Note Samba"), "Insensatez" ("How Insensitive"), "O Amor Em Paz" (Once I Loved") -- all written by Jobim -- plus Baden Powell's "Samba da Benção" and Dorival Caymmi's "Samba da Minha Terra."

The original concert was directed by Aloysio de Oliveira, and this LP issue includes liner notes by the California-based Brazilian music historian Daniella Thompson.