Joao Gilberto's self-titled.

Nice piece. And I also had no idea Wendy Carlos produced the s/t (my CD only has songwriter credits), that is kind of amazing! Has anyone written about that?

Wendy Carlos, in the early aughts, describes her experience as audio engineer on Joao Gilberto’s legendary self-titled 1973 “white album” pic.twitter.com/t4YPgjDUec

— Glenn Kenny (@Glenn__Kenny) July 12, 2019

God I love this album. I spent a lot of time working on his thumb against three fingers picking style and it just opens so much rhythmic possibilities. Rip big man.

That technique is hard to do well, kudos to you if you can manage it without having grown up in Brazil.

i mean i can keep the beat with my thumb/bass string and then do the syncopated part with my three fingers so thats something! he obv had way more range and fluidity with his left hand, plus the effortlessness of his playing (whereas mine is v much effortful rn)

had no idea he was using his thumb, that explains a lot!

You’ve got to be kidding

actually not kidding. my big dive into bossa nova and Brazilian music predated youtube and a lot of other materials being widely available, don't think I ever saw footage of him playing back then, and the stuff I read about him didn't go into technique specifics.

Don’t you play guitar yourself? Aren’t you aware of fingerstyle playing? Think I started a thread about that, maybe you even posted on it.

yes and yes but I've never tried it myself, was aware of other musicians doing it but never associated it with bossa nova

honestly I don't think my hands are big enough to manage it

Wait what? You understand we're talking about his right hand technique, right? I.e. that he played fingerstyle, i.e. not with a pick? You didn't know he was doing that?

Psst, Shakey, over here

Perhaps this will refresh your memory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNuMoVqKEuE

Lol i thought we were talking about his LEFT handctechnique

Sorry i am dum and scanning this thread too quickly

You thought it was some Robert Johnson stuff? D’oh!

Haha yes

something i haven't seen mentioned anywhere is gilberto's mentorship of the rock band novos baianos, and the resulting LP "acabou chorare" (the title of which is probably a deliberate evocation of "chega de saudade"). his influence on their sound is pretty remarkable, and it's also just kind of a hilarious scenario:

Their new home had become something of a hippie commune, perenially surrounded by a cloud of smoke, friends and musicians would come and go throughout the day. It was no surprise then that when a smart bespectacled man knocked on their door they thought the worst – the police were after them. Upon discovering that the man was in fact Joao Gilberto, one of Brazil’s biggest stars and the progenitor of bossa nova, the worry then turned to joy. It was midnight when he arrived. He wouldn’t leave ’til eight in the morning. They played guitar through the night, and then the next night, he returned.

(from https://soundsandcolours.com/articles/brazil/how-joao-gilberto-turned-os-novos-baianos-from-hendrix-worship-to-recording-the-greatest-brazilian-album-of-all-time-189/)

! Thats crazy, i had no idea

Nor I

JG’s input coincided with a Novos Baianos getting a LOT better IMO. Their previous records had been fine but “Acabou Chorare” is world class.

Listening now to the newly streaming The Boss of the Bossa Nova (Reel to Reel Version). Good stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahQh9nZBV9E