"Girl From Ipanema"

Here is a cut of me playing this wonderful bossa nova at the 2009 Baytowne Wine Festival (Destin, FL). Myth has it that "The Girl from Ipanema" was inspired by Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto (now Helô Pinheiro), a fifteen-year-old girl living in Montenegro Street of the fashionable Ipanema district of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Daily, she would stroll past the popular "Veloso" bar-café on her way to the beach, attracting the attention of regulars Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes.

In reality, the song was actually composed for a musical comedy titled Dirigível (Blimp), and entitled "Menina que Passa" (The Girl Who Passes By) - of course with different lyrics. The composers did know Helô Pinto, and later attributed the song's composition to her as they had looked forward to seeing her pass by the Veloso bar many times in the course of her life. In his memoires, composer Moraes wrote that she was '"the paradigm of the young Carioca: a golden teenage girl, a mixture of flower and mermaid, full of light and grace, the sight of whom is also sad, in that she carries with her, on her route to the sea, the feeling of youth that fades, of the beauty that is not ours alone — it is a gift of life in its beautiful and melancholic constant ebb and flow."
Incidentally, the Veloso bar, renamed "A Garota de Ipanema" - The Girl From Ipanema, by its owners, still exists in Ipanema. I do love this song and hope you enjoyed listening to me perform it.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Girl From Ipanema
• Randy Sherwood
• destin
• saxophone
• Baytowne Wharf
• music
• smooth jazz
• saxy guy
• jazz
• Florida
• musician
• bossa nova
• ipanema
• winefest
• wine festival

[The280916]

Hi Randy - as usual - so-o-o- beautiful.  I love this song - the beat is lovely to sway to. Keep on making gorgeous music for lovers of that wonderful instrument called the "sax" - it is like food - feeds the soul, body and mind. Muchas gracias.

[SaxyGuyDestin]

@The280916 Thanks so much and I apologize for the wind noise... the chart is nicer when there is no wind or crowd noise! :) It's a nice track I pieced together and I love playing that song - you're right - very nice feel to that song. Thanks for listening - please keep checking back! I am going to put some more stuff on here soon! :) Have a terrific summer and thanks again for the kind words!

[MuzicStudent]

Nice arrangement Randy. Where did you get the backing track? It's a great track too. Thanks for posting and keep up the great playing!

[SaxyGuyDestin]

Thanks for the listen - I made the track myself using "cut and paste" from a karaoke track. I did that for several of my tracks. Usually I have to surgically remove the solo's that are embedded in the karaoke tracks and then splice the tune back together. It's not too hard after you've done it a few times. Thanks again for listening and your comments!

[SaxyGuyDestin]

Thanks Lawrence and Pascal - it's indeed such a great song and I have a great track for that song... Sorry about the wind noise. The camera mic was being plagued by some wind coming from the wrong direction (my direction unfortunately!). Thanks for listening and for your nice words!

[SaxyGuyDestin]

Thanks to both of you! Actually, the hat was a lifesaver. There was no shade to be had and it allowed me to keep the sun from drying me out completely! :) Thanks for listening!

[unisaxy]

Great job! Have always loved this song. You seem to spice up whatever you do, keep it up.

[desertlight]

You;ve got a great sense of melodic improvisation that is pleasant.. This doesn't wear down the spirit like some "bad as I want to be" Coltrane-like playing.; Well done.

[spicyswiss33]

very nice play as usual... thanks !

[babigotblueyes]

you need some shade....