Komorebi - The Album

On June 5th, 2023, we lost an incredible musician: bossa nova pioneer Astrud Gilberto. With one song, Astrud changed the jazz world. In 1964, her Grammy-winning recording of “The Girl From Ipanema” spurred the global popularity of bossa nova: a new genre of Brazilian music. Despite the performance’s significant cultural impact, Astrud received little credit from the jazz community. For decades she was manipulated out of owning royalties for recording the song (she only made $120 for the session despite it being the second-most recorded track of all time).
Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon experience for women musicians in the male-dominated field. 

To pay tribute to Ms. Gilberto’s work through music, I composed a short album of original songs in dedication to her. These compositions take inspiration from Astrud’s distinct vocal phrasing and reimagine her style. During my year long research project I studied Astrud’s music closely to understand what made her musical style so distinct. Listening and transcribing (notating music through analyzing it by ear) allowed me to observe her range as a musician-composer. Through this process I identified key elements of her music. Astrud’s soft tone of voice, rhythmic phrasing, vivid lyrical imagery, and colorful instrumentation make her music unique.


Astrud kept her life private; she stopped taking interviews early on in her career. Though this hindered some of my research, I found a bounty of information through her website, which includes a biography and a lengthy interview. From this I collected material for my compositions. So far, I have composed four songs for the EP. Two of these songs tell stories based on imagined experiences from her life. 
I decided to interview famous bossa nova musicians about Astrud’s impact to gather more perspective from professionals within the bossa nova lineage. One of the interviewees worked closely with Astrud on her last two albums before she retired. 
In May we will record the EP and release it in the fall. To increase accessibility, it will be available on streaming platforms. A written biography is included with the album with the aim to inform listeners of Astrud’s influence and to highlight how misinformation has downplayed the artistry of female musicians like Astrud. This experience has provided me with insight into the composing and recording processes, and will allow me to fulfill a great dream of mine: to give back to the jazz community.