CD1
1. Chega de saudade – João Gilberto
2. Desafinado - João Gilberto
3. Manhã de carnaval – Elizete Cardoso
4. Lôbô bôbô só - João Gilberto
5. Chora tua tristeza – Carlos Lyra
6. Eurydice – Luiz Bonfá
7. Morena boca de ouro - João Gilberto
8. Insensatez – Alaide Costa
9. Bim Bom - João Gilberto
10. Outra vez – Elizete Cardoso
11. Saudade fêz um samba – João Gilberto
12. Canção do amor demais - Elizete Cardoso
13. Doralice - João Gilberto
14. Lamento no morro – Luiz Bonfá
15. Meditação - Maysa
16. Rapaz de bem – Carlos Lyra
17. Samba de uma nota só - João Gilberto
18. Se é tarde me perdôa - João Gilberto
19. Samba da Bênção – Vinicius de Moraes
20. Discussão – Sylvia Telles
21. Um abraço no Bonfá - João Gilberto
22. Dum…dum…dum…dum – Baden Powell
23. O pato - João Gilberto
24. A Felicidade – Agostinho dos Santos
25. Lição de Baião – Baden Powell
26. Samba da minha terra - João Gilberto
27. Rio – Lucio Alves
28. Deixa – Odette Lara/ Vinicius de Moraes
29. Este seu olhar - João Gilberto
30. Mas que nada – Jorge Ben & Copa 5
31. Berimbau - Vinicius de Moraes
32. Samba de uma nota so – Walter Wanderley
CD2
1. Desafinado – Stan Getz
2. Canção do olhar amado – Carlos Lyra
3. Recado bossa nova – Zoot Sims
4. Corcovado – Miles Davis/Gil Evans
5. Corcovado – Stan Getz/Astrud Gilberto
6. O Barquinho – Laurindo Almeida
7. Agua de beber – Antonio Carlos Jobim
8. Samba dees days – Stan Getz
9. Atabaque – Laurindo Almeida/Bud Shank
10. Eu preciso de você – Astor Sylva
11. O pato – Stan Getz
12. Inquietaçao – Laurindo Almeida/Bud Shank
13. The Girl from Ipanema – Stan Getz
14. Samba triste – Stan Getz
15. Ciúme – Carlos Lyra
16. Vivo sonhando – Stan Getz
17. Loie – Ike Quebec/Kenny Burrell
18. So danço samba – Stan Getz/Luis Bonfá
19. Um abraço no Bonfá - João Gilberto
20. Joyce’s samba – Julian “Cannonball” Adderley
21. Manina de Maria – Stan Getz/Luis Bonfá
22. Tristeza de nos dois – Sergio Mendes
23. Clouds – Julian “Cannonball” Adderley
24. Ebony samba – Stan Getz/Luis Bonfá
This double album usefully surveys the phenomenon of the bossa nova and samples some of it finest exponents. The first CD opens with Chega de saudade, a number which became equally well-known under the title No More Blues. This was the first hit for João Gilberto, who
recorded it in 1958 with “musical direction” by Antonio Carlos Jobim. João dominates the first album, contributing more than a third of the tracks.
Gilberto might be regarded as one of the pioneers of the bossa nova, a distinction shared with Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, who together composed Chega de saudade.
Gilberto was a singer as well as a guitarist, and he had a gentle way of singing and playing which became the hallmark of the bossa nova. You might say it
was a quieter form of the samba, with elements added from jazz. Gilberto also sings on the second track, Desafinado, which became one of the most
familiar bossas. Another factor in the spread of the bossa nova was the 1958 film Black Orpheus, directed by Marcel Camus. It was shown widely
across the world and its music, written by Jobim and Luiz Bonfá, included several bossas. The most popular song from the film was Manhã de carnival, which was composed by Luis Bonfa and is sung here by the pleasantly clear-voiced Elizete Cardoso, who was one of the first
vocalists to record bossa novas. Another song from Black Orpheus is A Felicidade, which appears later on this CD. It was composed by
Jobim, with words by Vinicius de Moraes. The film was very influential and it can be credited with assisting the popularity of the bossa.
This album contains a good cross-section of other musicians who performed and developed the bossa nova. They include singing guitarist Carlos Lyra, whose
understated singing was well in the bossa tradition; the aforementioned Luiz Bonfa, a guitarist as well as composer (his guitar playing showed the
influence of his classical training); Laurindo Almeida, a guitarist whose 1954 recordings with Bud Shank prefigured bossa nova; and Baden Powell, a
versatile guitarist capable of a wide range of styles, including classical and jazz. One especially interesting inclusion is organist Walter Wanderley who,
although he was Brazilian, is mostly associated with “lounge music”. His version of One Note Samba is a kind of lounge bossa: listenable but
rather bland.
Although João Gilberto is richly represented on this double album, his wife Astrud is only credited on Corcovado in the second CD, although she
also sings in The Girl from Ipanema, where her husband also does vocals and guitar. I am not too sorry about this thin representation of Astrud
Gilberto, as I have never considered her a great vocalist, although her fragile voice is well suited to the soft bossa style.
The second CD introduces Stan Getz, a jazz musician who helped considerably to widen the appeal of the bossa nova, notably with his LP Jazz Samba,
a 1962 collaboration with guitarist Charlie Byrd (see my review at http://www.musicweb-international.com/jazz/2013/Stan_Getz_EJC55582.htm
). The album included such memorable tunes as Jobim’s Desafinado and Samba de uma nota só (“One Note Samba”) and, my personal favourite,
Charlie Byrd’s Samba dees days. Desafinado was a hit in the pop music charts and the album introduced many more people to the bossa. Getz
had further hits in 1964 and 1984 with The Girl from Ipanema. Who could resist the seductive sound of Stan’s mellow tenor sax, which blended well
with the lightly strumming guitars? Stan appears on ten of the tracks in the second CD, often joined by such bossa stalwarts as “Tom” Jobim, João Gilberto
and Luiz Bonfá.
Stan’s espousal of bossa nova encouraged many other jazz musicians to take up the genre. On this album, they are represented by Zoot Sims, Miles Davis, Bud
Shank, Ike Quebec, Coleman Hawkins and Cannonball Adderley. It is noticeable that most of these are saxophonists. It seemed as if all you needed to make a
successful bossa nova group was to add a saxist to a guitarist.
But most of the jazz musicians who adopted the bossa treated it with respect. For instance, Zoot Sims’ Recado bossa nova stays very much in the
Stan Getz style, although Miles Davis’s version of Corcovado ignores the samba rhythm to become a typically multi-faceted Gil Evans arrangement.
Jazz musicians assured the bossa nova of an extended life which lasts until today. Bossas have become a normal part of many jazzmen’s repertoire and are
widely accepted in all kinds of music as one of the enduring genres: tranquil, but with the underlying thrill of Brazilian rhythms.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Le Chant du Monde 
