A&M Cover Versions 1965-70: "Dindi"

Which cover version is your favourite?

  • Chris Montez

    Votes: 2 18.2%
  • Claudine Longet

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Pete Jolly

    Votes: 9 81.8%

  • Total voters
    11
(By the way... Portuguese is my third/fourth language and I talk with Brazilians quite often in Portuguese, so if anyone needs any questions answered, lyrics translated, pronunciation help, I can try my best to help however I can from an American English speaker's perspective.)
 
(By the way... Portuguese is my third/fourth language and I talk with Brazilians quite often in Portuguese, so if anyone needs any questions answered, lyrics translated, pronunciation help, I can try my best to help however I can from an American English speaker's perspective.)
Great to know that you can facilitate Portuguese to English translations. Portuguese is such a beautiful language. Brazilian writer Ruy Castro wrote his classic book on Bossa Nova translated into English, which I have. I hope his more recent book about Brazilian Samba Cancao which preceded Bossa Nova will one day get translated into English.
 
A little pronunciation note... if you're here you probably know that "di" in Brazilian Portuguese sounds like "dgee." Similarly, "ti" sounds like "tchee," but only in (most dialects of) Brazilian Portuguese.

In reality, the "n" in "Dindi" nasalizes the first "i," so to sound like a Brazilian, you'd say "gee," but you'd start to exhale out of your nose when saying "gee" the first time, then for the second syllable just say "gee" (exhaling out of your mouth this time). The closest English approximation would be like saying "jean-gee."
 
A little pronunciation note... if you're here you probably know that "di" in Brazilian Portuguese sounds like "dgee." Similarly, "ti" sounds like "tchee," but only in (most dialects of) Brazilian Portuguese.

In reality, the "n" in "Dindi" nasalizes the first "i," so to sound like a Brazilian, you'd say "gee," but you'd start to exhale out of your nose when saying "gee" the first time, then for the second syllable just say "gee" (exhaling out of your mouth this time). The closest English approximation would be like saying "jean-gee."
Right you are about these pronunciations heard in Rio de Janeiro. The language flows so smoothly like in French. All the Latin languages are beautiful. However, Italian and Spanish differ in sound as they have a staccato pronunciation and sound and are spoken a bit harder. For example, Nao in Portuguese sounds a lot smoother than No in Spanish.
 
A little pronunciation note... if you're here you probably know that "di" in Brazilian Portuguese sounds like "dgee." Similarly, "ti" sounds like "tchee," but only in (most dialects of) Brazilian Portuguese.

In reality, the "n" in "Dindi" nasalizes the first "i," so to sound like a Brazilian, you'd say "gee," but you'd start to exhale out of your nose when saying "gee" the first time, then for the second syllable just say "gee" (exhaling out of your mouth this time). The closest English approximation would be like saying "jean-gee."
I forgot to note that syllable-final M is the same way, so "Jobim" is never pronounced with a pure M. One would say "jo" (with a soft j), then "bee," then start to push air out through your nose to make that final M sound. To English speakers, the pushing the air out through the nose makes it sound like a final "-ng" (like Jo-beeng), but the reality is that the back of the tongue shouldn't be closing off all airflow in the mouth. With Portuguese (and French) nasal vowels, the air comes out through both the mouth and the nose at the same time.
 
Cuyler--I guess I'm wrong--I thought the Portuguese M at the end of a word sounds like the letter N. In other words Jobim phonetically would be pronounced as "JOE BEAN".
 
Cuyler--I guess I'm wrong--I thought the Portuguese M at the end of a word sounds like the letter N. In other words Jobim phonetically would be pronounced as "JOE BEAN".
It's kind of like it, but the syllable-final M and N in Portuguese nasalize the vowel, which basically means you push air out through the nose as well as the mouth for that sound. :D

"Joe Bean" is a good approximation; turning the N to an NG is a closer approximation if you can't push the air out through the nose and mouth. (It's soooo difficult for English speakers—speaking from personal experience!)
 
It's kind of like it, but the syllable-final M and N in Portuguese nasalize the vowel, which basically means you push air out through the nose as well as the mouth for that sound. :D

"Joe Bean" is a good approximation; turning the N to an NG is a closer approximation if you can't push the air out through the nose and mouth. (It's soooo difficult for English speakers—speaking from personal experience!)
Thank you for the clarification. For someone like myself, this kind of pronunciation can be a bit difficult.
 
Thank you for the clarification. For someone like myself, this kind of pronunciation can be a bit difficult.
Absolutely! The trick also works for words like "bem" (think: beyng or beng) or "sem" (seyng or seng) or "sim" (sing). Portuguese speakers don't say it exactly with -ng, but it's a really decent approximation for English speakers who have difficulty with Portuguese nasals.
 
Here is another review of the career of Sylvia Telles by jazz writer Marc Myers, who wrote that she was his favorite female bossa nova singer. Take note that Myers has a keen appreciation of Brazilian music. and you will find archived in his website interviews of Carlos Lyra and Marcos Valle. He also has a series of interviews with Creed Taylor, who of course was crucially important in the promotion of Brazilian music in the USA and for that matter around the world.

 
Along with Sylvia. I thought of so many other Brazilian musical artists who died so very young in their prime of their lives. Elis Regina the star of MPB died in 1982 at age 36. Clara Nunes the star of samba died in 1983 at age 40. Agostinho dos Santos whose voice was dubbed in the movie Black Orpheus died in 1973 at age 41. Nara Leao the Muse of Bossa Nova died in 1989 at age 47. So much talent--so many memories.
 
I forgot to note that syllable-final M is the same way, so "Jobim" is never pronounced with a pure M. One would say "jo" (with a soft j), then "bee," then start to push air out through your nose to make that final M sound.
I once heard that it was pronounced "hoBEAN" but the "J" sounding like "H" is more of a Spanish inflection, isn't it?
 
I once heard that it was pronounced "hoBEAN" but the "J" sounding like "H" is more of a Spanish inflection, isn't it?
Correct :) Fun fact... Brazilians have taken Spanish names and maintained the "H" sound of Spanish J, by changing J to R.

So... yes, there are many Brazilians named Ruan (pronounced like Juan). There's a Brazilian jiu-jitsu guy named Royce Gracie (pronounced like "hoy-see grey-see"). The J (or G + I or E) makes the French J sound (like in English "vision").
 
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