"DESAFINADO" (1959)

The bossa nova celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Bossa nova means "new style" in Portuguese, and when it was introduced in Brazil in the late 1950s it created a musical revolution. The movement, led by guitarist-vocalist João Gilberto and composer Antônio Carlos Jobim, began in the affluent neighborhoods by the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. Early bossa nova music and lyrics were created by middle and upper class musicians who targeted listeners of similar economic groups. In contrast to the samba, the traditional music of Brazil that was popular with the Brazilian working class and spoke of their daily struggles to survive, bossa nova lyrics reflected the easy, laid-back lifestyle of wealthy Brazilians. The music, while unique, did use altered jazz chords and a characteristic samba drum beat. A typical ensemble would include an acoustic guitar, drums and vocals. "Desafinado" and "Girl from Ipanema" are perhaps the best-known songs from this period. It even has been suggested that "Desafinado" may be responsible for the name of the movement because of its line "Que isto é bossa nova, Que isto é muito natural" (That is bossa nova, it is very natural).
"Desafinado" literally means "off key" and is an example of Jobim’s humor. Some critics had called the bossa nova style "music for off-key singers" because its harmonies and intervals sounded odd to them. Their criticism inspired Jobim to make fun of them by writing the song. It has been said that when João Gilberto heard "Desafindao" for the first time, he shouted, "That’s mine." Jobim produced the album Chega de Saudade on which Gilberto made his first recording of the song. When the record initially was presented to the director of Odeon Records, he did not greet it with enthusiasm; in fact, it is said that he disliked it so much that he threw a fit and broke the record. However, ultimately Odeon did publish the recording and Chega de Saudade went on to break all record sales in Brazil. Newton Mendonça, who wrote the original "Desfinado" lyrics in Portuguese, unfortunately never lived to experience the worldwide success of the song. In 1960 he suffered a massive heart attack that killed him at the age of 33.
A concert at Carnegie Hall in November of 1962 that featured Brazilian musicians, including Jobim and Gilberto performing "Desafinado", created a new awareness of bossa nova in the United States. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy received the artists at the White House and several signed recording and touring contracts in New York. In the early 1960s North American jazz musicians already had begun to record bossa nova tunes. "Desafinado" was the first track on the album Jazz Samba, recorded by Byrd and Getz in 1962, and it won a 1963 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance – Solo or Small Group (Instrumental) for Getz. Jazz Samba was the first major bossa nova album in the US. Getz went on to record the best-selling Getz/Gilberto album with Gilberto and Jobim in 1964. That album won the 1965 Grammy Awards for Best Album of the Year, Best Jazz Instrumental Album - Individual or Group and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. Album tracks included "Desafinado" and "The Girl from Ipanema". 1965 was the first time that a jazz album received Album of the Year. It would be 43 years before another jazz album would win that award; in 2008 Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters won the Album of the Year.
Eliane Elias, the WICN Artist of the Month for September and a well-known interpreter of Jobim, has this to say about "Desafinado": "With its intricate melody, harmonies and turns, it’s a challenging song to sing and play. Ironically, one must have great intonation to sing the ‘off-key’ song. It has been the closing song at most of my shows. I love the changes which are great for improvisation and for traveling and opening up."