Getz/Gilberto

Originally released in March 1964, this collaboration between saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist João Gilberto came at seemingly the end of the bossa nova craze Getz himself had sparked in 1962 with Jazz Samba, his release with American guitarist Charlie Byrd. Jazz Samba remains the only jazz album to reach number one in the pop charts. In fact, the story goes that Getz had to push for the release of Getz/Gilberto since the company did not want to compete with its own hit; it was a good thing he did. Getz/Gilberto, which featured composer Antonio Carlos Jobim on piano, not only yielded the hit "Girl from Ipanema" (sung by Astrud Gilberto, the guitarist's wife, who had no professional experience) but also "Corcovado" ("Quiet Night")--an instant standard, and the definitive version of "Desafinado." Getz/Gilberto spent 96 weeks in the charts and won four Grammys. It remains one of those rare cases in popular music where commercial success matches artistic merit. Bossa nova's "cool" aesthetic--with its understated rhythms, rich harmonies, and slightly detached delivery--had been influenced, in part, by cool jazz. Gilberto in particular was a Stan Getz fan. Getz, with his lyricism, the bittersweet longing in his sound, and his restrained but strong swing, was the perfect fit. His lines, at once decisive and evanescent, focus the rest of the group's performance without overpowering. A classic. --Fernando Gonzalez
Customer Review: Wonderful Music!
Wonderful and relaxing music. Very soft, wonderful sound tracks. There are two soundtracks of "The Girl From Ipanema," with the first being the ultimate recording. I would highly recommend this CD for anyone who enjoys cool jazz or any relaxing International-style music.
Customer Review: A Serendipitous Masterpiece
In history, seemingly all great things are happenstance. One could certainly say the same about this serendipitous recording. A quiet, gentle, beautiful record of 8 songs (and 2 reprises) it created a time capsule of that era that surprisingly stands up to todays standards. A great album to relax to, put it on when you need to seriously unwind without drugs or alcohol. It works amazingly well.

Ringtones are big business. The Yankee Group announced that over the last five years, these musical tones have sent people literally singing to the bank, with a total revenue of $2 billion since 2001, and $50 million in one year alone.

The figures show how popular ringtones have become among cell phone users, who download the files to personalize their caller functions. They can pick from millions of songs, from the latest hit R&B single, to quirky sounds like cows mooing, to the classical pieces of Ludwig van Beethoven. Technological development has also made the audio quality of the ringtones much more realistic. From the ear-piercing, tin-like sounds of the first downloadable tunes, todays music pieces have a near-radio quality. You could dance to it, except youd look pretty silly shaking your booty while taking a call.

Unfortunately, the realistic quality of the musical pieces have raised a few ethical issues, namely violation of copyright. Since the sound of the ringtones and the sound of the actual songs are so close, record companies are saying that they count as reproductionsand because of that, they should pay some kind of royalty to the labels and the singers.

In a celebrated case, rap artist Eminem filed injunctions against five ringtone companies, supposedly because they had used his songs without his prior consent.

Some would argue that the ringtones only use ten seconds, maximum, of the actual song. How long should a snippet be before it becomes copyright infringement? Nokia representative Matthew Courtney believes that it has nothing to do with length. "Every reproduction of a musical excerpt involves payment of copyright fees to the copyright owner," he says.

There are some songs that fall beyond this rule, such as those that fall into public domain: classical pieces, national anthems, and yes, a cow mooing. (To date, there are no records of cows suing any major ringtone company.) Others still require the permission of the artists, and may even be subject to royalty fees.

Luckily most artists are not that inclined to sue, seeing the ringtones as a way of promoting their music, and perhaps a compliment to their own popularity. In a way, being immortalized in a ringtone has become a gauge of how ones music has infiltrated public consciousness. Besides, nobody actually downloads a ringtone as a replacement for an actual record. A real fan would want more than a ten second recording out of a three minute song, although would probably use that snippet to announce to the world, Hey, this tune rocks.

However, trends do indicate that fans may actually be willing to pay for their polyphonic ringtones. Music label EMI representative Jay Samit estimates that the earnings form ringtones could contribute as much as 10% of the record industrys total revenues. Apparently, the appeal of ringtones is that strong people arent just downloading it because its free, but because its a valued feature.

Of course, many polyphonic ringtones still allow people to download the tunes for free, generating their revenue from ads instead. Others use a mixture of the two business models, offering some for free (or a weekly rotating list) while requiring a small download fee for premium ringtones.

Either way, lawsuits notwithstanding, the fact is that ringtones are here to stay.

Polyphonics.eu.com provides fully licensed polyphonic ringtones as well as all the latest real tones.

90's dance music