Bossa Nova. Brazilian Music.

Bossa Nova is a movement of Brazilian popular music

that appears in the late '50s,

 released by Joao Gilberto (1931 -), Tom Jobim (1927-1994),

 Vinicius de Moraes (1913-1980) and young singers and composers

of the middle class in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro.

 It is characterized by a greater integration between melody,

harmony and rhythm, more elaborate and letters 

related to daily life, enhancement of pause and silence,

 and a way of singing more stripped and intimate

 than the style that prevailed until then.

                                

                                                                                

According to a definition of Tom Jobim,

bossa nova is "the meeting of the Brazilian samba

 with modern jazz." 

 In 1958 the LP “Canção do Amor Demais”, came out,

recorded by Elizeth Cardoso (1920-1990),

with music by Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes lyrics.

 The monitoring of two tracks – “Chega de Saudade”

 and “Outra Vez” - is done by the guitar of Joao Gilberto,

 who introduces a new beat, later identified 

with bossa nova.

                      

           

                                           

          

                                                         

In the early '50s, the American jazz influences

 Brazilian singers such as Mario Reis (1907-1981),

 Dick Farney (1921-1987), Lucio Alves (1927-1993), 

Tito Madi (1932-) and Johnny Alf (1929 -),

 which are considered the precursors of the bossa nova.

They are accompanied by young people from

 the south of Rio de Janeiro, as Carlos Lyra (1936 -), 

Roberto Menescal (1937 -), Nara Leão (1942-1989)

and Ronaldo Boscoli (1929-1994),

 who can gather to play guitar and sing their own songs

 and other composers.

 Carlos Lyra and Roberto Menescal form a guitar academy in 1956,

and disclose the composition of the group.

 Influenced by the everyday informal language and thematic samba,

simple and colloquial lyrics,  bossa nova themes

 often depict the  universe of young people,

 such as Corcovado, Girl From Ipanema and “A Felicidade”.

     

A  show in Rio de Janeiro, 1958,

opens public performances of bossa nova. 

The expression, which was already used

 to name the new style of music, appears in the lyrics

 of “Desafinado”, recorded by Joao Gilberto, Tom Jobim's music

 and lyrics by Newton Mendonça (1927-1960). 

In May 1960, Joao Gilberto is presented for the first time

in concert with the musicians of bossa nova:

 “A Noite do Amor, do Sorriso e da Flor”.

 In 1962, the festival of bossa nova performed at Carnegie Hall

 in New York, United States,

 gives international recognition to the movement. 

On the occasion are presented “Samba de Uma Nota Só”,

“O Barquinho” e “Lobo Bobo”, among others.