While critics dismissed the new style when it first emerged in the late 1950s, composer Antonio Carlos Jobim himself summed up why bossa nova was here to stay: "If you insist on classifying my behavior as antimusical, I must argue that this is bossa nova, and that it is very natural." (Lyrics from "Desafinado.") A slower, more romantic vocal style than upbeat samba batucada, bossa nova was the sound of a more refined Brazil infused with modern jazz harmony, and a vocal approach that was mellower than earlier styles. Spearheaded by Jobim, lyricist Vinícius de Morães, guitarist Luiz Bonfá and singer/guitarist João Gilberto, among others, bossa nova literally became the soundtrack to a new Brazil.
It exploded on the scene around 1959 upon the release of Gilberto's album Chega de Saudade, as well as the international success of Marcel Camus's film Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus), which featured the music of A.C. Jobim. Essentially a reduction of the rhythmic complexity of samba, bossa nova could be interpreted by a solo vocalist with a guitar, with a musical accompaniment that extracted the basic rhythms of samba (usually generated on percussion) and created a simple, repetitive guitar riff that supported the lyrical and smooth vocals. Also, bossa nova explored the richness of modern jazz harmony, which stimulated much international collaboration with artists such as American saxophonist Stan Getz, who went on to record a number of albums with Jobim, Gilberto and other Brazilian artists and brought the bossa nova sound to the American jazz mainstream (often referred to as jazz-bossa). The 1964 Getz/Gilberto album was one of the year's most successful recordings, earning several Grammy Awards and rising to No. 2 on the pop charts, second only to a certain British band named the Beatles, and it remained on the charts for a staggering 96 weeks. Among the songs on the recording was the extremely popular "The Girl From Ipanema" which featured Gilberto's wife Astrud singing an English translation of the Jobim and de Morães tune (with added lyrics by Norman Gimbel). Much of the legacy of bossa nova is attributed to the compositional genius of Antonio Carlos Jobim, whose collaboration with lyricist de Morães spawned numerous award-winning songs.
By the 1960s virtually every jazz artist began recording the style, including John Coltrane, Herbie Mann, Charlie Byrd and diva Ella Fitzgerald; even pop icons such as Elvis Presley sang about his "Bossa Nova Baby" and had American teens gyrating to a new beat. The successful bossa nova boom saw its greatest achievement through its international recognition, and went on to become standard repertoire for jazz musicians. While its popularity waned with the emergence of the tropicália sound and the subsequent MPB explosion, bossa nova returned to the spotlight in the 1990s as contemporary artists began to rejuvenate the style, and the sound of bossa nova was the soundtrack once again for a new generation of Brazilians. Rebeca Mauleon
