Joao Gilberto is alive and well

That all said, I must see him live. Him and Caetano.

The recent "Live in Tokyo" album is good.

he was supposed to be at Carnegie in june but it was cancelled. would love to see this guy

I believe he was keeping a condo in Santa Barbara, CA for some time. Had some friends who would see him from time to time.

http://bnovamusic.com/250620131/#more-4874

Bossa nova, legend and founding father, Joao Gilberto celebrated his 82nd birthday this month and will have more to celebrate as he successfully navigated through a court case to reclaim a number of recorded tapes. The court case pitted Joao Gilberto against EMI Music for custody of tapes that contained previously recorded material by Gilberto. This includes famous works such as “Chega de Saudade”, “Love, Smile and Flower” and “Joao Gilberto.”
The court ruling was executed by Judge André Gustavo. Interestingly, he was the same judge that presided over a previous court case in 1987, in which custody of the tapes went in the opposite direction, in favor of the British music label. Now the tapes will remain the exclusive property of Gilberto until another day of judgment takes place. The date for this is yet to be decided.

EMI have five days to deliver the material or will face disciplinary action. These actions would include paying a fine of $100,000 and having a search and seize operation being done at their headquarters.

!!

!! indeed!

I'm glad the article clarifies that the tapes contain previously recorded material

Well, they might be unused, that he paid for...

In a 2008 NY Times article Ben Ratliff writes:

Mr. Gilberto sued EMI in 1997, contending that the old music had been poorly remastered. A statement by his lawyer at the time declared that the reissues contained sound effects that “did not pertain to the original recordings, banalizing the work of a great artist.”

There were also other issues. Luiz Bannitz, the legal director at EMI Brazil from 1999 to 2004, said that the royalty rate in EMI’s old contract with Mr. Gilberto, drawn up in the 1950s, was very low by current standards — “less than 5 percent,” he said. The court ruled in 2002 that EMI should raise his royalty rate to 18 percent, but Mr. Gilberto began a series of appeals on other decisions related to the case; the lawsuit is still pending a superior tribunal court decision.

For good or ill, it is the remastered, early ’90s CD version of this music that I keep in my head. I have heard an old, pre-remastering Brazilian LP pressing of the album “Chega de Saudade,” and the remastered version has some perhaps unnecessary reverb and a more spacious sound-picture, a result of turning mono originals into stereo — the standard practice during the early years of CD reissues. As a consequence the balance of instruments sounds slightly reshuffled; the percussion, for instance, is louder.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/arts/music/15ratl.html?pagewanted=all#

Yet Mr. Gilberto’s first three albums, some of the best music of the 20th century, have largely been unavailable.

Wonder if they are available now?

I haven't checked Amazon or whatever