The music of this song was composed by Me.Tom Jobim in 1962 when Helô was just 17yo, Tom asked to the poet Vinicius de Moraes to made the lyrics of the song.
This song born under the name Menina Que Passa(Girl Who Passes or Girl That Pass), but was renamed to Garota de Ipanema(Girl From Ipanema) a famous beach in Rio.
In the early 60s, when Tom and Vinicius devoted hours to whiskey in the Bar Veloso on the old Montenegro Street (now Rua Vinicius de Moraes) in Ipanema, the two young composers looked at the sweet swing of the hips of a beautiful young woman who went toward the beach.
It was premiered in 02AGO1962 at a night club in Rio by Me.Tom Jobim(piano), Vinicius de Moraes(vocal), João Gilberto(a-guitar), Milton Banana(drums) and Otávio Bailly(bass), three months later it was showed at the Carnegie Hall.
The song was recorded in English by Astrud Gilberto and was extended by Stan Getz to over five minutes.
The Prof.Carlos Alberto Afonso, literature professor and expert on Bossa Nova, said that was the Bossa Nova exerted influence on Jazz, not the other way, "because at this time the melodies of Cole Porter were already worn out." For Prof.Afonso, also there were political reasons for the boost that the NorthAmericans gave the Bossa Nova, as the Cold War meant that they wanted to use the brazilian tropical music to resist Cuban Salsa.
"Bossa Nova seeks the same as the Renaissance art: perfection through simplicity."
When in Rio visit the Prof.Afonso bookstore called Toca do Vinicius(Vinicius Cave), in the heart of Ipanema and transformed into authentic museum and temple of Bossa Nova.
On Ipanema Beach is a monument erected in honor of this musical style, a mural that adorns the wall of the subway station.
This newspaper shows a picture of the beautiful Helô and Vinicius circa 1990s and additional info:
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ilustrada/1130273-garota-de-ipanema-icone-da-bossa-nova-completa-50-anos.shtmlVinicius was a brazilian diplomat in NYC, but decided to leave because he was very bohemian and wish write and compose, he said the diplomatic life really bored him.
Today Heloisa Pinheiro/67 years old, is mother of four girls and grandmother of three girls, some bio:
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hel%C3%B4_PinheiroA current photo from Helô e and her daugther Ticiane Pinheiro:
http://virgula.uol.com.br/ver/noticia/famosos/2012/04/11/298021-helo-pinheiro-sobre-neta-rafaella-justus-e-provado-que-ela-tem-o-qi-elevadoVinícius Cave Blog:
http://blogdatocadovinicius.blogspot.com.br/I do not like Bosa Nova, but Helô was a handsome woman.
