50 YEARS OF BOSSA NOVA

May 14, 2008 on 7:09 pm | In Brazil, South America, Webbandstand |

A smooth, romantic style which started in the late 1950s, Bossa Nova supplanted samba as the national music during much of the following decade. Typically, Bossa Nova (which means something like “new knack” or “new style” in Portuguese) is very mellow and laid-back music – a massage for your ears!

The style was introduced to Brazilians through the stunning early work of guitarist/singer João Gilberto and the music of Antonio Carlos (Tom) Jobim, and to the rest of the world through the French-Brazilian film Black Orpheus, which won the 1959 Oscar and the Golden Palm at Cannes, based on a play by Vinicius de Moraes, with music by Tom Jobim and Luiz Bonfá. In the early 1960s, Bossa Nova rhythms sparked a musical craze, led by jazz musicians in the U.S. and Europe. Still one of the dominant musical styles in Brazil, Bossa Nova remains one of the world’s great musical treasures.

The landmark considered as the starting point for Bossa Nova was the LP “Canção do amor demais”, with music by Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes sung by Elizeth Cardoso, with João Gilberto on guitar, launched in May 1958. From then on, each and every great jazz musician in the world has performed Bossa Nova, a style that has many followers in the Netherlands and is taught at several Dutch Conservatoires, especially the one in Rotterdam (CODARTS).

The idea that Bossa Nova represents the entire scope of Brazilian popular music is all wrong, but it represents the pinnacle of the country’s influence on the world’s music.

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