For those with a real interest in learning the complexities of bossa nova guitar, give a listen to João Gilberto's 2000 CD João voz e violão. As the title suggests, the entire CD is simply Gilberto with his guitar. As Jobim had once noted, Gilberto is an orchestra by himself. He does ten excellent songs including Desafinado ("Out of Tune") and Chega de Saudade ("No More Blues").

I had no idea how complicated bossa nova is until I listened to this. Truly stunning. Gilberto's voice has aged but he still sings very well and his guitar-playing is utterly top-notch. What's strange is to listen to the intros because they sound totally out of tune and chaotic and just as you get ready to wince, it suddenly resolves into an amazingly lyrical set of bossa nova chord changes.

I don't know if Gilberto plays differently in full band setups or whether other instruments mask much of the guitar sounds but as a solo artist, his guitar provides the entire band's range to accompany his lilting vocals. For example, the bass strings provide a firm anchor to practically every chord to the point that you could almost swear there is a string bass in the recording and it's very steady and amazingly melodic. All the bassist could do is follow it without having anything more to add to it because it is so amazingly complete. And yet there is all this strumming and harmony going over top of it and you wonder how one guitar can be doing this. Give a listen to Não Vou pra Casa as an example.

Then on top of all this, Gilberto is singing so expressively. He supposedly idolized Orlando Silva and took his vocal stylings from him. Gilberto also does what Louis Armstrong made so famous in jazz vocalizing which was to hold a note while the music continues on and then sing a quick stoccato of many notes to catch up. When done correctly, it is quite a pretty effect. Gilberto does this in a very soft voice and almost speaks rather than sings it. This has the effect of coming across like he is talking to you rather than singing you a song. The hushed tone of his voice makes it sound as though he is telling you a secret. Hard for me to say since my Portuguese isn't exactly fluent and every word sung here is in that language. As I said, bossa nova sounds best in Portuguese. How Gilberto manages to sing so independently of his impressive strumming techniques is literally beyond me. I've tried harder than any man not born in Brazil has ever tried and I just cannot do it. I'm getting better, though.