Antonio Carlos Jobim, music · Vinícius de Moraes, lyrics · Jon Hendricks and Jessie Cavanaugh, English lyrics (No More Blues) · First recorded by Elizeth Cardoso, 1958
Chega de Saudade
Chega de Saudade, also called No More Blues in English, is a song by Antonio Carlos Jobim. Players like how it opens in a shadowy minor , then lifts into a bright major one. João Gilberto's 1958 record made it a hit, and Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz recorded it in 1962.
Listen in this order
Eight versions in teaching order, from Brazil outward: Elizeth Cardoso's first recording, João Gilberto's hit single, Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz in 1962, Jobim himself, a vibraphone trio, a piano trio and a live band in Barcelona. Each step gives one thing to listen for and one thing to try.
Elizeth Cardoso recorded the song in April 1958 for her album Canção do Amor Demais, which came out that May on the small Festa label. Jobim wrote the arrangement and João Gilberto played guitar.
D minor · The first recording
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Listen for
Cardoso sings with an orchestra, and voices join in behind her. The guitar rhythm underneath is João Gilberto's, among the first recordings of his beat, and the song moves from a minor into a major one.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight of the chart slowly: , , for two bars, , , Dm, then and sharing a bar. If the slash are new, play the note after the slash in your left hand and the chord in your right.
João Gilberto recorded the song on 10 July 1958 for Odeon, and it came out that August as a single with his own Bim Bom on the other side. The single became a hit and helped establish as a style of its own.
Voice and guitar
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Listen for
João Gilberto sings and plays guitar, and Milton Banana adds percussion. The whole song lasts barely two minutes, so listen for how steady the guitar rhythm stays from start to finish.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 4 of the chart over and over, , , then for two bars, in an even, quiet rhythm, and hum the melody over them. Smaller version: play just the first two and hum.
“No More Blues (Chega de Saudade)”, Dizzy on the French Riviera
Recorded live on 24 July 1962 at the third international jazz festival in Antibes/Juan-les-Pins, with Lalo Schifrin arranging for Dizzy Gillespie's group. It opens the album Dizzy on the French Riviera and runs over ten minutes.
Live trumpet
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Listen for
Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet and Leo Wright's alto saxophone are up front, with piano, guitar, bass, drums and a percussionist behind them. Listen for how a song that Gilberto sang in two minutes grows past ten in a live setting.
Try it on your instrument
Playing a solo over the 32 minor-key (A and B) takes some practice with . The smaller version: play the melody twice through, once as you know it and once with the rhythm loosened.
Stan Getz with the Gary McFarland Orchestra · 1962 · Bossa nova
“Chega de Saudade (Too Much Longing)”, Big Band Bossa Nova
Stan Getz recorded it in New York on 27 August 1962 with an orchestra led by Gary McFarland, for the Verve album Big Band Bossa Nova. Jim Hall played guitar and Hank Jones piano.
Tenor saxophone with an orchestra
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Listen for
Getz plays tenor saxophone, and behind him sits a full orchestra with brass, flutes and clarinet. Compare that with Gilberto's single, where one guitar carried the song.
Try it on your instrument
Play 33 to 36 of the chart, where the tune turns bright: , , then for two bars. Then play bar 32, Em7 and in one bar, to hear how the music arrives there.
“Chega De Saudade (No More Blues)”, The Time Machine
Gary Burton recorded it in New York on 5 April 1966 with bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Larry Bunker. It is on his RCA Victor album The Time Machine, under the title No More Blues.
Vibraphone trio
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Listen for
Three players and no singer: Gary Burton's vibraphone leads, with Steve Swallow on bass and Larry Bunker on drums. Follow how the ringing vibraphone notes carry the melody.
Try it on your instrument
Play the 16 of the with only the bass note of each in your left hand, the way a bass player would, and the melody in your right.
Eliane Elias recorded it in New York in March 1992 for her Blue Note album Fantasia. Eddie Gomez plays bass and Jack DeJohnette drums on this track.
Piano trio
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Listen for
No one sings on this take. The piano trio stretches the song to nearly nine minutes, so you can hear how much room its 68 leave for playing.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole once at a steady tempo, then listen for the moment at 33 when the music turns from minor to major. Smaller version: play only bars 29 to 36 and listen for the change.
Andrea Motis & Joan Chamorro Quintet featuring Scott Hamilton · 2013
Live at Jamboree Barcelona 2013
Recorded live at the Jamboree club in Barcelona on 13 and 14 April 2013 for the album Live at Jamboree Barcelona 2013. Andrea Motis leads the Joan Chamorro Quintet, and Scott Hamilton joins on tenor saxophone.
Live in a club
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Listen for
This is a club recording with a six-piece band: tenor saxophone, guitar, piano, bass and drums, with Andrea Motis out front. At just over six minutes, the band has room to stretch the tune.
Try it on your instrument
Play along with the track once through and count to find 33, where the music turns from minor to major. Smaller version: raise a hand when you hear the brighter major part begin.
Elizeth Cardoso records the song in April 1958, with João Gilberto on guitar. Gilberto's own recording follows in July and comes out as a single that becomes a hit.
1960s
Jazz players take it up in 1962: Dizzy Gillespie plays it live at the Antibes festival, and Stan Getz records it with an orchestra. Jobim's own instrumental version, with strings, follows in 1963.
1970s
Nara Leão sings it on her 1971 Polydor album Dez Anos Depois.
1990s
Pianist Eliane Elias plays it as a trio piece of nearly nine minutes in 1992, and Joe Henderson plays it on tenor saxophone with Herbie Hancock in 1994. Gal Costa sings it live in 1999.
2010s
Chick Corea and Gary Burton play it as a piano and vibraphone duet on Hot House in 2012. In 2013 Andrea Motis leads a quintet through it live in Barcelona.
More great versions
4 more, from 1962 to 1999. Tap a cover to play it here.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
D minorusual key
68 barsA · B · C · D form
D m → Dkey centers
A16 bars
B16 bars
C16 bars
D20 bars
D m
D
The runs 68 in four sections: A and B (16 bars each) in , then C (16) and D (20) in . A and B open the same way: , , for two bars, , and Dm. A then goes on to and , Dm, and , for two bars, for two bars, and Em7♭5 with A7♭9. B instead goes to , , A7♭9 and Dm, repeats Dm7/C, E7♭9/B and A7♭9, and ends on Dm and with A7. C begins on at bar 33, where the tune moves into D major, and runs , Em7 for two bars, , A7, , Dmaj7, , , Em7 for two bars, E7 for two bars, and Em7♭5 with A7. D opens on Dmaj7, and E7 for two bars, then for two bars, Bm7 with , with , and . It runs F♯m7, , E7, A7 twice and closes on and A7, which leads back to the top.