One Note Samba, by Antônio Carlos Jobim.
It’s day 200, and I accidentally made a jazz. Figuring out which version of this song I’m covering is… tricky? See, the thing is, I remember this as if Astrud Gilberto is singing it, so I assumed it was a Jobim / Gilberto / Getz / Gilberto / etc. jawn from one of those Girl From Ipanema sessions, but it is not that thing, really.
In that case, the vocal I’m remembering (Hendricks of Lambert, & Ross fame penned the English lyrics, apparently) must be Laetitia Sadier in the Stereolab version, which of course is the one I’ve heard the most, though the Ella Fitzgerald track sounds like something I would know from way back.
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This is just a little samba, sure, right, so let’s learn some bossa nova chords and play it through a few times during the day before attempting a recording… And then spend way too long figuring out what the second note is, because I have no ear for the obvious.
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Postscript: The Astrud + Stan version is of course wonderful. You probably haven’t heard Stereolab play this unless you’re, uh, a lot like me. Ella and Joe Pass handle it, and I’m definitely paying some homage to her vocal, which I guess I’ve internalized. (Oh, and she doesn’t bother with the Hendricks book.) MJQ drops one with a rather sample-ready percussion track.