Bossa nova

Jazzy, but not Jazz, maybe this is how I firstly depict my impression of bossa nova music, and perhaps the other people don’t even recognize it. In fact, maybe many people will get confused and also define the bossa nova songs as jazz because they have quite a substantial similarity. But do you know that the bossa nova is actually hybrid music? Bossa nova, combining Brazilian samba music style with Jazz, creating idiosyncratic yet sophisticated music that has a slower, calm ambiance with the jazzy improvisations of the instruments compared to its predecessors. Although Bossa nova has become a worldwide well-known music right now, the first history of Bossa nova comes from one of the developed countries in the America continent called Brazil. This term is coined during the 1950s, as the bossa nova in Portuguese words means ‘new wave.’ This ‘new wave’ music gained a large amount of popularity among the younger generations, and only within a few years, bossa nova becomes the center of attention among the Jazz musicians in the United States.

Bossa nova music employs the rhythm based on Samba music as its core. The accentuation of the second beat in samba music is also used in bossa nova. Due to this reason, usually, bossa nova has the 2/4-time signature. Bossa nova music employs the classical guitar as the melody and rhythm while also uses the drum and some Brazilian percussion such as clave, mambo, and cabasa. This rhythm and instruments create a swaying feeling to the listener, which differs from swinging in jazz. Often, the piano is also used for bossa nova music. Usually, the lyrics of bossa nova depicts the happy life of an upper-class citizen in Brazil, and also about love and longing. Too, the singing style of bossa nova usually calm and subdue.

Bossa nova’s first and influential musician is Joao Gilberto. His first bossa nova’s music entitled Chega de Saudade to become a hit in Brazil, and also become my personal recommendation to someone who wants to know bossa nova music. His calm voice and the unique guitar playing are contrasted with the classical samba songs and hence, creating a new wave of music in Brazil which followed by the other musicians. One of another prominent bossa nova musicians and maybe The Father of Bossa Nova falls to Antonio Carlos Jobim. The Girl from Ipanema become one of the best and famous works of Antonio Carlos Jobim and even won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1965! Try to listen to Desafinado, Corcovado, and A Felicidade for more Antonio Carlos Jobim works. With the booming of bossa nova, many American musicians also interested in bossa nova. From many musicians, Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd maybe are one of the pioneers to popularize bossa nova in the United States. With their album entitled Jazz Samba, they dominate the Billboard chart for pop albums in 1962; it even becomes the number 1 in the chart list. In this album, try to listen to Samba Dees Days and Samba Triste, or basically just listen to all of the music in this album. Hence, all of these songs will roughly give you the big picture of the bossa nova music.