Desafinado

When you face Desafinado, you are playing a piece that was born as a direct response to the criticism that Bossa Nova received in its early days. The idea was that this new sound, which blended the energy of samba with the sophistication of jazz, was for people who sang "out of tune." The lyrics, written by Newton Mendonça, take that criticism and transform it, even coining the term "Bossa-nova" for the first time in his text. It is fascinating to think that a song we now associate with elegance and melody was born from controversy. The music, for its part, is the work of Antônio Carlos Jobim, one of the pillars of this genre.

The story behind Desafinado also leads us to a key moment for Bossa Nova. The version recorded by João Gilberto in 1959, included in his album Chega de Saudade, was fundamental. But the international impact came with the interpretation by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd in the 1962 album Jazz Samba. That version achieved great success on the charts in the United States and reached the United Kingdom. Its impact was such that Stan Getz won a Grammy in 1963 for his instrumental performance of the piece. Even the 1965 album Getz/Gilberto, which contained another instrumental version of Desafinado, won the Grammy for Album of the Year. In the English-speaking world, the song became known with adapted lyrics by Jon Hendricks and Jesse Cavanagh, popularized by artists such as Perry Como, and a version closer to the original, sung by Frank Sinatra, written by Gene Lees.