Astrud Gilberto进入爵士乐界的故事也相当传奇。首先我们得回顾一下Bossa Nova的历史。Bossa Nova是融合巴西桑巴舞曲和美国西岸冷爵士的一种新派爵士音乐，它自50年代末期在巴西兴起，成为50、60年代巴西新流行音乐的代名词。1963年，对巴西音乐有着浓厚兴趣的著名冷爵士乐手Stan Getz邀请巴西著名作曲家Bossa Nova之父Antonio Carlos Jobim和Bossa Nova皇帝Joao Gilberto一起到美国录制《Getz/Gilberto》，为了让这张专辑里的音乐更容易被美国听众接受，需要在主打歌曲《the girl from ipanema》里加入一些英文歌词。然而Joao Gilberto不会英语，Stan Getz便提议让Joao的妻子Astrud Gilberto来演唱其中的英文歌词。于是在这偶然的机会下，Astrud Gilberto在这张举世闻名的经典爵士唱片中亮出了她柔美而独特的嗓音，若有若无的隐约美感，让全世界都为之惊艳！一曲原汁原味的"The Girl From Ipanema"，甜蜜旋律是如此的清凉迷人，绝非目前泛滥的Bossa Nova所能望其项背。总让人忍不住随着哼唱，手持一杯散发蜂蜜与柑橘香气的Delback Brut Rose Champagne，一边脱去鞋袜赤脚踩在冰凉的地板上，随着乐音踩踏直至翩翩起舞，是夏日至为悠闲的慵懒姿态。如果没有了Astrud gilberto偶然的加入，这首名曲是否还能成为拉丁爵士乃至整个爵士乐界的传奇，成为被世界各地的爵士乐迷传颂了将近40年，仍使人们对其念念不忘的Bossa Nova经典呢？这实在是很难说。世事就是那么的奇妙，Astrud Gilberto成就了《the girl from ipanema》，而这位伊帕内玛姑娘也成就了Astrud Gilberto的歌唱事业，使她从那个默默隐匿于Bossa Nova皇帝Joao Gilberto耀眼光芒后的小贤妻，一跃成为Bossa Nova乐界的女王。从老式的留声机到现代的CD唱机，她那纯美明亮的歌声仍然在流淌，她也成为爵士乐迷心目中那个永远青春不老的依帕内玛姑娘。
Astrud的声线以及她的演唱风格在当时是很特别的，慵懒惬意，感性而又漫不经心，不同于其他主流爵士女歌手。而现在出现了不少模仿她或与她很相像的女歌手，小野丽莎也可算是一个，第一次听她的《Pretty World》时，我便觉得她的唱腔与Astrud Gilberto的很相像，只是声线比Astrud的来得沉厚些。这些新生代的女歌手以她们更为慵懒甜美的歌喉掳获着那些初入门的爵士乐迷的心，于是一些老乐迷们也开始对这种演唱风格习已为常，甚至会觉得她们演唱的Bossa Nova过于甜腻。
岁月流逝，Astrud Gilberto的歌曲却醇香依然。每当我们回想起Astrud演唱的《the girl from ipanema》时，总会感受到她的清纯自然，她的演绎虽然略显稚嫩，却独具一种未经雕饰的美。说句实话，她的演唱技巧不高，以至于有些乐评人认为她实在是歌艺平平，但她的演唱流露出一种朴实真挚的美。她那纤细而又坚实明亮的歌喉略带沙哑，于是便呈现出一种天鹅绒般的质感，还具有极强的穿透力。她的吐字也很有韵味，带有一种异国的风情(可能是由于英语不是她的母语)。不少爵士女歌手都会在演唱中用华丽的转音来突显自己的歌唱技巧，而Astrud的转音随性自然，虽然不明显，但却愈发显出她的清新俏丽。有人说觉得她的声音是最性感的，也有人说觉得她的歌喉有着无人能及的清纯。她的歌声流露出一种天真单纯的快乐，因为天性使然，也因为她只唱让自己感到快乐的歌曲。她也演唱Standard Jazz，还有一些抒情歌曲、舞台剧，但她从来不把自己与Ella Fitzgerald等人相比较，但是她在爵士乐迷心目中的地位并不输于那些技艺超群的爵士女伶。很多乐迷都是对她一见钟情，在第一次听到她的演唱后，便被她的歌声占据了心灵，总是念念不忘，看来Astrud Gilberto真是魅力非凡。Astrud Gilberto灌录过的专辑也颇多，1996由Verve公司出品的《Jazz 'round Midnight》系列Astrud Gilberto专集收录了不少她演唱过的名曲，如《Fly me to the moon》《Misty Roses》《shadow of you smile》等，她的歌喉在这些歌曲中折射出了不同的光彩，确实很美。
接近晚年时，Astrud Gilberto的声线并没有太大的改变，当然，她的演唱变得更够火候了，富有成熟性感的韵味。虽然这些年来爵士乐界不断涌现出和她的声线、风格都差不多的女歌手，但没有一个能取代她在乐迷心目中的地位，而仅能望其项背。当年美国Down Beat杂志给她的评语是：以流行观点而言，她的歌声令人难以抗拒。因此她不单受到了爵士乐迷的爱戴，也受到了流行乐迷的拥护。受她影响的民谣、摇滚、流行歌手也有很多，如美国著名民谣女歌手Suzanne Vega，她那慵懒清新的歌喉就和Astrud Gilberto的有七八分相像，她也透露自己深受Astrud及其音乐的影响。
Astrud Gilberto生于巴西长于巴西，也有着南美女子那种明艳妩媚的脸，然而她却不像另一位巴西Bossa Nova女王Elis Regina那样热情如火，《Misty Roses》中淡淡的喜悦，《shadow of you smile》中淡淡的哀愁，她给人的感觉就是如此的恬淡，却让人如沐春风，在将近半个世纪的爵士空气中留下了经久不散的清香。
The honey-toned chanteuse on the surprise Brazilian crossover hit The Girl From Ipanema, Astrud Gilberto parlayed her previously unscheduled appearance (and professional singing debut) on the song into a lengthy career that resulted in nearly a dozen albums for Verve and a successful performing career that lasted into the 90s. Though her appearance at the studio to record The Girl From Ipanema was due only to her husband João, one of the most famed Brazilian artists of the century, Gilbertos singular, quavery tone and undisguised naïveté propelled the song into the charts and influenced a variety of sources in worldwide pop music.
Born in Bahia, Gilberto moved to Rio de Janeiro at an early age. Shed had no professional musical experience of any kind until 1963, the year of her visit to New York with her husband, João Gilberto, in a recording session headed by Stan Getz. Getz had already recorded several albums influenced by Brazilian rhythms, and Verve teamed him with the cream of Brazilian music, Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto, for his next album. Producer Creed Taylor wanted a few English vocals for maximum crossover potential, and as it turned out, Astrud was the only Brazilian present with any grasp of the language. After her husband laid down his Portuguese vocals for the first verse of his and Jobims composition, The Girl From Ipanema, Astrud provided a hesitant, heavily accented second verse in English.
Not even credited on the resulting LP, Getz/Gilberto, Astrud finally gained fame over a year later, when The Girl From Ipanema became a number five hit in mid-1964. The album became the best-selling jazz album up to that point, and made Gilberto a star across America. Before the end of the year, Verve capitalized on the smash with the release of Getz Au Go Go, featuring a Getz live date with Gilbertos vocals added later. Her first actual solo album, The Astrud Gilberto Album, was released in May 1965. Though it barely missed the Top 40, the LPs blend of Brazilian classics and ballad standards proving quite infectious with easy listening audiences.
Though she never returned to the pop charts in America, Verve proved to be quite understanding for Astrud Gilbertos career, pairing her with ace arranger Gil Evans for 1966s Look to the Rainbow and Brazilian organist/arranger Walter Wanderley for the dreamy A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness, released later that year. She remained a huge pop star in Brazil for the rest of the 1960s and 70s, but gradually disappeared in America after her final album for Verve in 1969. In 1971, she released a lone album for CTI (with Stanley Turrentine) but was mostly forgotten in the U.S. until 1984, when Girl From Ipanema recharted in Britain on the tails of a neo-bossa craze. Gilberto gained worldwide distribution for 1987s Astrud Gilberto Plus the James Last Orchestra.