Blame It on the Bossa Nova

Excerpt from JAZZ The Complete Story....
"In 1956, the Bahian guitarist/composer Joao Gilberto relocated from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro, where the colourful cultural mix was inspiring another brilliant guitarGilberto recorded Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes's 'Chega de Saudade' (No More Blues). which became the hit single (backed by his own 'Bim Bom') widely considered to be responsible for launching the bossa nova movement in Brazil."

Their follow-up single, Jobim's 'Desafinado' ('Off-Key') ws a fully formed materspiece that floated on Gilberto's distinctive, syncopated guitar rhythm, which would become the basis for this new, hybrid form. Momentum for the movement picked up the following year with the popularity of the Oscar winning film Black Orpheus, a romance set in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival, featuring a beguiling score by Jobim, and fellow Brazilian guitarist/composer Luiz Bonfa, and introducing such enduring bossa nova anthems as 'Manha de Carnaval' and 'Samba de Orfeo'. Then, in 1960, Gilberto and Jobim, recorded 12 original bossa nova pieces on the largely overlooked Capital release, Samba de Uma Note So.

Meanwhile, this 'quiet revolution'continued to unford. In 1961, the US State Department sponsored a good-will jazz tour of Latin America that included American guitarist Charlie Byrd. A swing through Brazil on that tour was a revelation to Byrd, igniting the guitarist's love affair with bossa nova. Back in the States, Byrd played some bossa nova tapes to his friend, the soft-toned tenor saxophonists, Stan Getz, who then convinced Creed Taylor at Verve to record an album of the alluring Brazilian music with himself and Byrd. Their historic 1962 collaboration, Jazz Samba enjoyed immense popularity on the strength of the hit single, Jobim's 'Desafinado'(Off-Key), prompting a rush by American jazz record labels to repeat its success, which produced a flood of copycat releases between 1962 and 1963, including Gene Ammons' Bad! Bossa Nova ,Dave Brubeck's Bossa Nova USA, Herbie Mann's Do The Bossa Nova With Herbie Mann and Eddie Harris' Bossa Nova."

"Versed in rural blues as a boy, Charlie Byrd turned to jazz in 1945 after meeting Django Reinhardt in Paris."