Collection: João Gilberto

Born in Juazeiro, Bahia in 1931, João Gilberto do Prado Pereira de Oliveira revolutionised Brazilian music by creating bossa nova in the late 1950s, earning him the title "O Mito" (The Myth) in Brazil and "father of bossa nova" worldwide. In 1955, whilst living in solitude at his sister's home, he developed a radically minimalist guitar technique that distilled Brazil's complex percussion rhythms into essential patterns played with softly percussive fingerpicking. Combined with his intimate, breathy vocals without vibrato, this approach created an entirely new sound when paired with Antonio Carlos Jobim's sophisticated harmonies and Vinicius de Moraes' poetry.

His 1958 recording of "Chega de Saudade" launched both bossa nova and his career, followed by three seminal albums between 1959 and 1961 that became blueprints for the movement. The 1963 Getz/Gilberto collaboration with Stan Getz, featuring wife Astrud's vocals on "The Girl from Ipanema", became one of history's best-selling jazz albums and won the 1965 Grammy for Album of the Year, the first jazz record to receive the honour. Known for extreme perfectionism and demanding acoustic standards, he once insisted on 28 takes to perfect a single vowel sound. His 2000 album João voz e violão, featuring only voice and guitar, won the Grammy for Best World Music Album and demonstrated his enduring mastery. He died in Rio de Janeiro in 2019 aged 88.