Getz/Gilberto - Stan Getz & João Gilberto

The 1964 album that took bossa nova worldwide, and worth hearing in full rather than as a hit. The detail is the balance: Stan Getz's soft tenor saxophone, João Gilberto's steady guitar and Jobim's sparse piano never crowd one another. Compare João's Portuguese and Astrud Gilberto's plain English verses on The Girl from Ipanema and Corcovado; the contrast shows how much of bossa nova lives in understatement.