My first exposure to Bossa Nova was in the early Sixties at band practice night in our family home, my parents played jazz and dance music in various residencies 6 nights per week for more than 30 years and they would rehearse new songs on a Sunday evening. For me, Bossa Nova was born.

Of course the first song that became the vanguard for the movement in North America was ' The Girl From Ipanema ' sung by Astrud Gilberto and featured the composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto and Cool Jazz aficionado Stan Getz.

From that moment on I was hooked on this easy listening and lilting hook that was Bossa Nova.

During the following years I would try and seek out as many recordings by the protagonists and more from the aforementioned quartet which was to lead to very expensive days at record stores.

This series will try and give the reader an insight in to the Brazilian jazz sub-genre, and indeed a challenge at the time to the more familiar Samba style which is the backbone to this day of the annual Carnaval do Rio Janeiro which takes place in the city on the Friday before Ash Wednesday each year to celebrate the fasting season prior to Lent. The first festival in Rio occurred in 1723.

We welcome contributions from all of our website visitors, perhaps you can help with the musicians who appear and complete their Biographies and send them to us, or write stories about Brazilian Features or Places To Visit, we will link them where they are mentioned in the series with a link back to your FaceBook or Email Address. e.g. see a Sample of a Biography from our History Of Jazz 10 Part Series.

The artists who keep the Bossa Nova movement going today are many, and not just Brazilian artists, the vibrant rhythms caught the imagination of the whole world in the Sixties and through to the modern day, and we always devote space on our Playlists to introduce the music to our Listeners and keep this wonderful legacy alive and well.

Next Time in Part 1 - How It All Began

Wes George (former Sony Jazz webmaster)
Email : info@jazznet247.net
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