Bossa nova is a Brazilian musical style noted for its smooth sound and melancholy lyrics, especially popular in the 1950s and 1960s. The genre, which translates to "new wave" or "new sound," blended samba with American jazz and was particularly influenced by artists like Miles Davis.
The music's most influential figure is Antônio Carlos Jobim, who both wrote what's considered the genre's first song and contributed to its most popular album, "Getz/Gilberto," a landmark collaboration between Stan Getz and João Gilberto that won the Grammy for album of the year and includes "The Girl from Ipanema," which won for record of the year.
Bossa nova reached its commercial peak in 1964 with "Getz/Gilberto." After that, a repressive regime in Brazil and the rise of guitar-centric rock 'n' roll abroad led to a decline in popularity. In recent years, though, the music has had an unlikely streaming resurgence thanks to Gen Z.
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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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 best-selling jazz albums of all time.
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