Bossa Nova Album Guide

At the same time, a young performer and composer named Antonio Carlos Jobim was starting to make a name for himself in Rio (at the time, it was a laid-back, artsy, seaside city in comparison to São Paolo's busy big business center). Many of Jobim's greatest songs were already written when he met and collaborated with Gilberto. Bossa nova became harmonically even richer, with Jobim bringing in elements from French classical music, different Brazilian forms and more American jazz (the composer has also name-checked a 1950s meeting between expat Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida and cool jazz saxophonist/flutist Bud Shank). Unlike Gilberto, Jobim kept expanding his reach and experimenting with his music; he wrote and performed everything from extended neoclassical works and film soundtracks to adventurous tropicalia tunes — as well as crafting what would become known as easy-listening music. He is a collaborator or leader of a half-dozen of the albums spotlighted below, and most of them feature at least one of his songs.

Dozens of artists, many centered in Rio De Janeiro, started tuning into the new bossa nova sound. Older Brazilian artists adapted to it, recognizing that there was now a "national style" that could be their own; likewise, American jazz artists such as Charlie Byrd, Stan Getz and Herbie Hancock added the form to their musical arsenals and started a never-ending collaboration between the musicians of both countries.

Things go in and out of fashion, but beautiful music ultimately endures. After the initial global burst of fame in the 1960s, bossa nova settled in as a part of tropicalia and Brazilian pop, and remained a constant in jazz before blossoming again with a new generation of exciting young artists. For a fascinating, vastly entertaining history of the form, check out Ruy Castro's Bossa Nova: The Story of the Brazilian Music That Seduced the World. Castro's book starts with a group of 1940s Rio teens who were part of the Frank Sinatra fan club and ends with the American vocalist's first collaboration with "Tom" Jobim.

Here are a number of essential bossa nova albums that were recorded across five decades. Sadly, it wasn't practical to include every single deserving artist and album, but hopefully the following recordings will be a springboard to a lifetime of rippling sonic pleasure.

Bossa Nova Begins

Herbie Mann, Antonio Carlos Jobim & João Gilberto: Recorded in Rio De Janeiro
One of the best of the first-wave bossa nova records, this collects an early session that Jobim did with João Gilberto and another one that he did with bossa convert Herbie Mann. Add in guitarist Baden Powell on a couple of the Mann cuts, and you've practically got a complete portrait of the new musical style being created in Rio. Forget the beach; this is rainy-day music. — Nick Dedina

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Stan Getz: Getz/Gilberto
This key '60s album is one of those classic jazz sessions where just the right people got together at the right time and created a major musical watershed. Tom Jobim's bossa nova tunes have a graceful sense of swing and a wistful melancholy that fits Stan Getz's feathery tone like a hand-tailored Italian suit. Jobim also plays a lean, almost Bill Evans-style piano on the session and is joined by João Gilberto, who sings and plays guitar. Since neither star spoke English, the producers had Gilberto's wife, Astrud, sing translated lyrics on a few cuts. A new star was born and "The Girl from Ipanema" became a lasting hit, as did the striking "Desafinado" and "Corcovado." — N.D.

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Luiz Bonfa: Le Roi de la Bossa Nova
Luiz Bonfa may not be the king of bossa nova that the album title suggests, but he is undoubtedly one of its reigning crown princes. After the French film Black Orpheus introduced bossa nova (and Bonfa) to the world, the Brazilian guitarist went to Paris and cut this sublime set. Bonfa's singing style owes a lot to João Gilberto, but his guitar playing brings a snappier samba and Spanish punch to the bossa's blissed-out template. — N.D.

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Charlie Byrd: Bossa Nova Pelos Passaros
Charlie Byrd was one of the first American musicians to discover bossa nova; he even got Stan Getz, his favorite saxophonist, to record an album of the new Brazilian music with him. The duo's jazz samba became a sensation, and bossa nova was launched around the world. This solo follow-up LP was one of Riverside jazz's biggest sellers and includes Byrd's beautiful reading of Jobim's "Insensatez," which was a (sadly) forgotten hit single for the guitarist. — N.D.

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Baden Powell: O Universo Musical De Baden Powell
One of the reasons bossa nova broke through during the early 1960s was that it was largely focused around the guitar (even Antonio Carlos Jobim, when not at the piano, could play supple guitar). But it was Baden Powell who was the music's first celebrated virtuoso, combining classical, jazz and Brazilian music into a pulsing blur that never let its incredible technique destroy its soul. This double-disc set features Powell's recordings from the 1960s and '70s, and spotlights the solo guitarist with different ensembles and vocalists. If you want to sum up what makes Powell different, just listen to him play Thelonious Monk's "Round About Midnight." — N.D.

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Sergio Mendes: In Person at El Matador
This live performance captures Sergio Mendes at his best. Mendes, who previously concentrated on his lean, propulsive American piano style, had just put his stellar band Brazil 66 together, but he had yet to add elements of pop to their sophisticated Brazilian sound. Fans of Herb Alpert-style easy listening should look elsewhere. This is a superb bossa nova record. — N.D.

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Nara Leao: Nara
Known as The Muse of Bossa Nova, Nara Leao went from being a teenage music fan who opened up her parents' Rio apartment to blissful jam sessions to being a beloved performer in her own right. This engaging set shows that Leao had "it" right from the start. The stylistically diverse songs are mostly unique to American ears, and at this stage Leao sounds like she's experiencing the songs as she sings them. Fans of first-wave Rio bossa nova should look for CDs with similarly stark black/white/red sleeve designs. The vocalist would become politicized after Brazil's coup and would even denounce bossa nova for a time (bizarre since even the apolitical Antonio Carlos Jobim was jailed as a bossa nova subversive). — N.D.

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Paul Desmond: Bossa Antigua
After Stan Getz, Paul Desmond was the saxophonist with the strongest affinity for bossa nova. Desmond, who enjoyed puns, came up with this LP's title to let people know that Rio's "new beat" had suddenly made him a part of the "old" jazz wave (he also exchanges Rio's Ipanema for N.Y.C's tough thoroughfares on "The Girl from East 9th Street"). Desmond and guitarist Jim Hall playing with different all-star rhythm sections? You can't lose. — N.D.

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Astrud Gilberto: The Astrud Gilberto Album
After Astrud Gilberto became a surprise sensation on the Getz/Gilberto album, Verve rushed her into the studio to cut this 1964 orchestral set. Taking no chances, Antonio Carlos Jobim lends 10 songs as well as guitar and vocal support, while Marty Paich crafts Claus Ogerman-style string charts. This could be Astrud's best, with she and Jobim doing the definitive version of "Agua de Beber." — N.D.




The Wave Continues

Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim: Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
This first collaboration between America's greatest vocalist and Brazil's greatest songwriter resulted in a near-perfect album. Jobim's melodically and harmonically rich and emotionally complex songs were a natural fit for Sinatra, and these versions of "Corcovado," "Dindi" and the heartbreaking "How Insensitive" are justly considered definitive. Since both men were also wary of some of the English translations of Jobim's work, they opted to "bossa nova-ize" a few American standards, and Cole Porter's "I Concentrate on You" is now often done in the style. Thrilled with the results, the joyous Brazilian gave the normally reserved American a bear hug. They would record together again, with lesser — though often still brilliant — results. — N.D.

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Lalo Schifrin: Insensatez
This 1968 bossa nova set shows off Lalo Schifrin's usual lean, powerful piano playing. His florid writing for strings for this set is based on Jobim's orchestral hit albums of the era. Check out opening track "The Wave"; you'll find its introductory riff isn't that far from Schifrin's theme from Mission: Impossible. Though Schifrin is Argentinean, he worked with many of bossa nova's pioneers during this period. — N.D.

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Antonio Carlos Jobim: Wave
The title track quickly became one of Jobim's most famous (and covered) songs, but the rest of the tunes on this lovely album are almost as strong. Jobim contributes beautiful guitar and piano work throughout, and even leaves his usual melancholy behind on "Captain Bacardi" and the joyous "The Red Blouse." "Lamento," the only vocal track, deserves to be more widely heard. — N.D.

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Antonio Carlos Jobim & Elis Regina: Elis & Tom
After the justly famous Getz/Gilberto album, this is the most essential Jobim session. Recorded in 1974, it's a beautiful collaboration with Elis Regina (Brazil's greatest female singer) that taps into the melancholy, existential sadness at the heart of so many Jobim recordings. The impressionistic feel kicks in after the exhilarating, wondrous "Waters of March." Perfection. — N.D.

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Various Artists: Bossa Nova Brasil
On the one hand, Brazilian bossa nova is a tightly coiled musical world. On the other hand, it is a vast universe of musical riches. This set gives you the names Americans know (Gilberto, Getz, Jobim) but also lets you in on Leila Pinheiro, Roberto Menescal and the jazz group the Tamba Trio. Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa's "Coracao Vagabundo" illustrates why the tropicalia generation venerated bossa nova in the same way that the form's first wave looked to samba. Vinicius De Moraes (Jobim's greatest lyricist) offers up the gorgeous "Samba Da Bencao" and "Carta Ao Tom 74." The former is the perfect beach sunset song; the latter works as both a sonic postcard to his old collaborator and a veiled longing for life in Rio before a military dictatorship and changing times destroyed the original bossa nova scene. — N.D.


The New Bossa Nova Breed

Eliane Elias: Paulistana
During the 1980s and '90s, it was Eliane Elias who kept the flame alive for Brazilian jazz in America. Elias is a startlingly dexterous post-bop pianist who understands bossa nova and Brazilian forms intuitively (the title of this one, Paulistana, shows that she's proud to be a native of São Paolo). The opening cut, "Aquarela Do Brasil" can almost be viewed as Brazil's alternative national anthem. Antonio Carlos Jobim is covered on a number of cuts, and "Velho Companheiro" features Elias' gentle vocals. — N.D.

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Celso Fonseca: Natural
Why is Celso Fonseca so good? It's because he's got the best delivery, the prettiest arrangements and the coolest voice, and he's cleverer in English than many Americans could ever hope to be. (For proof, check out "Slow Motion Bossa Nova.") It's rare that an album is lush and delicious from start to finish, but this one is. Cibelle guests on "Ela Carioca." — Sarah Bardeen

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Bebel Gilberto: Tanto Tempo
The beguiling 2000 debut by João Gilberto's daughter. A soothing mix of perfectly cool vocals, acoustic instrumentation and subtle electronics, Gilberto updates bossa nova without departing from it. The release exudes romance and has found favor with a diverse group of listeners. Standout tracks include "Samba da Bencao," "August Day Song" and the title track. — S.B.

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Marcio Faraco: Interior
At his best, Marcio Faraco exudes the kind of undulating, guitar-driven gentility that slips past your defenses as only a Brazilian singer can. Before you know it, you're feeling dreamy, and the world's a place filled with kind people and beautiful places. Yes, it's an illusion, but Faraco's delicate and precise singing gives it life. Interior, for all its introspection, never falls into a rut — though it does slip into pointlessly slick bossa nova once or twice. Still, on the whole, the album's a charmer — and Faraco a welcome discovery. — N.D.

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Morelenbaum2/Sakamoto: Casa
An exquisitely beautiful work that captures the essence of Brazil's greatest songwriter, Antonio Carlos Jobim. Japanese pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto, cellist Jaques Morelenbaum and his wife, vocalist Paula Morelenbaum, made a pilgrimage to Jobim's home and recorded this album while overlooking the sea. By taking out the rhythm and concentrating on the songs, Sakamoto reaffirms Jobim's striking understanding of impressionistic classical harmony. — N.D.

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CeU: CeU
Sometimes hype can weigh down an album before you even hear it. So forget what you might have heard about CeU, and forget that she's Starbucks' latest poster girl. If you ignore all that silliness, you will finally hear your way through to her remarkably mature, good-natured debut album. The woman delicately experiments with everything from jazz and electronica to Afrobeat, and she does it all with that warm-honey vocal style that defines Brazilian singers. Tasty. — S.B.

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Vinicius Cantuaria: Cymbals
Vinicius Cantuaria may be the most talented and innovative of a group of young Brazilians who are once again experimenting with bossa nova. A songwriter, vocalist and singularly expressive guitarist, he avoids nostalgia and uses the sun-flecked 1960s Rio sound for his own personal explorations. The fact that Cantuaria works at levels that match those of his collaborators (which include the pianist Brad Mehldau, guitarist Marc Ribot and cellist Erik Friedlander) should clue you in to his abilities. The original tunes can actually stand next to the expressive reading of Jobim's "Vivo Sonhando." — N.D.

If this has only whetted your appetite for more bossa nova, then check out this Rhapsody radio station.