In the mid-1960s, 'bossa nova' symbolized sophistication in the US

Bossa nova blends Brazilian samba and American jazz

Conceived by artists like Antônio Carlos Jobim in 1950s Rio de Janeiro, the music was seen as a more restrained, slower samba, which was Brazil's popular national music at the time. In addition, bossa nova was popular in the more middle-class, cosmopolitan neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro and was influenced by American jazz artists like Miles Davis, giving it a more urbane, intellectual air.

An ethnomusicologist breaks down bossa nova's American popularity

Kaleb Goldschmitt is a professor at Wellesley College who wrote the book "Bossa Mundo: Brazilian Music in Transnational Media Industries," which analyzed how and why bossa nova became so popular in the US in the early 1960s. According to Goldschmitt, much of it was due to the music's seemingly apolitical aesthetic, a notion that was reinforced by the Brazilian government.

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova—a jazz-influenced Brazilian genre—to the US

'Jazz Samba' is considered the start of the American bossa nova craze

The 1962 album by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd was an unexpected hit, reaching the top of the Billboard album chart and receiving a Grammy nomination for album of the year. Its lead single, "Desafinado," won the Grammy for best jazz performance and is now considered one of the genre's classic tracks.

A 1962 concert at Carnegie Hall introduced the American press to bossa nova

Bossa nova was still largely under the radar when João Gilberto, Luiz Bonfa, Sergio Mendes, and others performed at the storied Carnegie Hall in New York. Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil noted that the showcase's success was surprising to both the musicians and Brazilians, who began taking the music more seriously as a cultural export.

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova to the US

Released a few months after Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd's "Jazz Samba," Jones' 1962 album similarly exposed American audiences to bossa nova. The record's first song, "Soul Bossa Nova," which Jones said only took him 20 minutes to compose, would later become the theme music for the "Austin Powers" movie trilogy.

Guitarist Charlie Byrd brought bossa nova to the US after a government-sponsored tour

The Mutual and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, also known as the Fulbright–Hays Act, sought to spread understanding through education and cultural exchanges. Its passage led to a government-sponsored music tour of South America featuring jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd. In Brazil, Byrd was introduced to the music of João Gilberto and returned to the United States eager to incorporate bossa nova into his own music.

Brazil's military dictatorship led to bossa nova's decline

In 1964, Brazil's president João Goulart was overthrown by a military coup supported by the US State Department. Scholars argue that the events led to the decline of bossa nova, with many Brazilians believing its pleasant sounds and picturesque lyrics were tone-deaf to the politically fraught moment.

'Getz/Gilberto' is considered bossa nova's peak

The 1964 album, featuring the American saxophonist Stan Getz and the Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, along with accompaniment from Antônio Carlos Jobim, was a massive hit and won the Grammy for album of the year in 1965. In time, it'd become one of the bestselling jazz albums of all time.

João Gilberto was bossa nova's first major star

Antônio Carlos Jobim wrote songs and worked with the singer, whose quiet, melancholy crooning made him a star. The records he recorded between 1959 and 1961, combined with the success of Marcel Camus' film "Black Orpheus," helped bossa nova move from a Brazilian sound to an international fascination.

Bossa nova had its own dance, though it was short-lived

American record executives hoped to create a social dance for the song, believing it would lead to more record sales, as had been the case with Chubby Checker's "The Twist." That led several well-regarded dance studios to attempt to create a dance, though none caught on like "The Twist" had.

The essential bossa nova albums

This primer from Far Out magazine offers a quick tour of the Brazilian genre through five of its most important albums, including "Getz/Gilberto," "Sergio Mendes Presents Lobo," and Roshina de Valenca's "Apresentando." Helpfully, there's plenty of critical commentary alongside the records, too, explaining how these landmark albums defined the genre.

Watch 'Black Orpheus,' the film that helped popularize bossa nova

The 1959 film, directed by Marcel Camus, was soundtracked by bossa nova musicians Antônio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfá. It was a big hit, winning the Palme d'Or at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival and the 1960 Academy Award for best foreign language film, helping spread the genre in Brazil and beyond.

'Chega de Saudade' is often considered the first bossa nova song

The song, which translates to "No More Blues," was written by Antônio Carlos Jobim and initially recorded by Elizete Cardoso in 1958. Although it bore some similarities with samba, Brazil's most popular dance music at the time, it was slower and considerably more melancholy and would eventually be called "bossa nova," which roughly translates to "new sound" or "new wave."

Billie Eilish and TikTok helped inspire a bossa nova resurgence

Eilish's 2021 song "Billie Bossa Nova" along with a handful of other younger artists, like Laufey and Beabadoobee, have inspired Gen Z's interest in the genre, with the music soundtracking tens of thousands of videos on TikTok.

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