Stan Getz, João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim - Getz/Gilberto (1964)

Note: this CD is the 1997 reissue containing 2 bonus tracks.

One of my favorites. This classic album is so sublime that I don't have the words to fully describe it, so I'm going to be lazy and cut-and-paste from the allmusic.com review. (I'd also prefer to enjoy the CD without thinking and writing). Here's some of what Steve Huey had to say about this album and I'm in complete agreement with everything he writes:

One of the biggest-selling jazz albums of all time, not to mention bossa nova's finest moment, Getz/Gilberto trumped Jazz Samba by bringing two of bossa nova's greatest innovators -- guitarist/singer João Gilberto and composer/pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim -- to New York to record with Stan Getz. The results were magic. Ever since [Getz's album] Jazz Samba, the jazz marketplace had been flooded with bossa nova albums, and the overexposure was beginning to make the music seem like a fad. Getz/Gilberto made bossa nova a permanent part of the jazz landscape not just with its unassailable beauty, but with one of the biggest smash hit singles in jazz history -- "The Girl From Ipanema," a Jobim classic sung by João's wife, Astrud Gilberto, who had never performed outside of her own home prior to the recording session. Beyond that, most of the Jobim songs recorded here also became standards of the genre -- "Corcovado" (which featured another vocal by Astrud), "So Danço Samba," "O Grande Amor," a new version of "Desafinado." With such uniformly brilliant material, it's no wonder the album was such a success but, even apart from that, the musicians all play with an effortless grace that's arguably the fullest expression of bossa nova's dreamy romanticism ever brought to American listeners. Getz himself has never been more lyrical, and Gilberto and Jobim pull off the harmonic and rhythmic sophistication of the songs with a warm, relaxed charm. This music has nearly universal appeal; it's one of those rare jazz records about which the purist elite and the buying public are in total agreement. Beyond essential.

Some of the most relaxing music you'll ever hear. Pour yourself a cocktail (not a beer as this music calls for a mixed drink), turn down the lights, put this album on, sit back and enjoy. As I write this, it is about 7 AM (so it's coffee, no cocktail) and I'm now too relaxed to go to work. You think my bosses will accept that excuse? "Sorry, I won't be in today. Getz/Gilberto. You understand."

Reviews/ratings:

• Stereo Review: Recording of Special Merit
• High Fidelity: "delectable music"
• DownBeat (★★★★½ ): "Getz is superb on this record."
• Billboard: Best of the Month
• Record World: "It'll be a classic"
• CashBox: "This is a purposeful fusion of talents resulting in a rejuvenation of the bossa nova"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★★

Update: In 2017, it was ranked at #103 on Pitchfork's list of the 200 Best Albums of the 1960s.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #2

Tracks: Yeah, they're all good. The bonus tracks are simply the 45 single edits of The Girl From Ipanema and Corcovado (Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I didn't discover this beauty until later in life (probably the late '90s), but that's probably for the best. If I had heard this when I was a teenager, I probably would have rolled my eyes and said something like, "That's the kind of music my parents listen to."