Listen: The Girl From Ipanema (Single Edit) / Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz
The

‘The Girl From Ipanema’ may have created the Space Age Bachelor Pad musical sub genre on it’s very own, quite by accident. What started out as rather lengthy bossa nova jazz rendition by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, with an Astrud Gilberto vocal feature rather far into the song’s album version, was eventually rearranged and edited down to a brilliant worldwide hit.

Seek out the single version, streamed above. It’s concise and in my opinion, far superior to the long full length counterpart. Then there’s the near extinct picture sleeve. Don’t ever pass that up.

Several years back, Astrud Gilberto played a night at SOB’s in NY’s West Village. I’d seen the listing, and lazily intended to attend, until day of. Suddenly, getting home and sinking into the sofa sounded way better. For whatever reason, I thought, just do it already. So last minute, left the Island office and walked across town, only to find the club oversold. Now the juices were flowing. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Two days later, Island’s King Sunny Ade & His African Beats were scheduled. Without shame, I pulled out my Island office ID and forcefully played the guilt card.

She was fantastic.

Listen: Misty / Groove Holmes RichardHolmesMisty.mp3

There are many, many covers of Erroll Garner’s ‘Misty’ from ’54. Some people will complain it’s schmaltzy, a bore or that it’s too adult. But be informed, the greats have done it in varying styles: Aretha Franklin, Donald Byrd, Johnny Mathis, Sarah Vaughan, The Vibrations, Donny Hathaway, Julie London, Stan Getz even Timebox.

Almost forty years later, in ’91, ‘Misty’ was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame, not surprising given one of the most common jokes about the RIAA’s recognition process is how out of touch they can be.

It’s a fact: like Bobby Hebb’s ‘Sunny’, ‘Misty’ weathers just about every genre well.

Listen: Cast Your Fate To The Wind / Shelby Flint ShelbyFlint.mp3

Even though Sounds Orchestral’s instrumental version was the bigger hit, Shelby Flint stakes claim to the classic version of ‘Cast Your Fate To The Wind’. It was her vocal version that filled the void left by Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto’s ‘The Girl From Ipanema’, well sort of. She’s still around, and living in North Hollywood, exactly here she grew up. How great is that?