The Girl From Ipanema hitmaker Joao Gilberto dead at 88

Brazilian bossa nova pioneer Joao Gilberto has died, aged 88.
The Grammy-winning The Girl From Ipanema hitmaker passed away in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday (06Jul19).
Gilberto discovered the samba sub-genre while working on new music in his sister’s bathroom.
He scored his first hit in 1959 with Chega de Saudade and moved to the U.S. in the early 1960s to work with jazz great Stan Getz, and their 1964 release, Getz/Gilberto, went on to win Album of the Year at the 1965 Grammys, becoming the first non-English release and the first jazz album to claim the award.
The album featured the Record of the Year, The Girl From Ipanema – a duet between Gilberto and his then-wife Astrud Gilberto.
Gilberto’s last studio album, Joao Voz e Violao, was released in 2000. It won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album.
Paying tribute to the musician on Sunday, Steven Van Zandt tweeted: “RIP Joao Gilberto. Godfather of Bossa Nova. His brilliant mix of Samba and Cool Jazz guitar style combined with the writing genius of Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes would create a new Brazilian musical genre.”