Bossa nova

Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music created by João Gilberto and first introduced in Brazil by Gilberto's recording of "Chega de Saudade", in 1958, a song written by Antonio Carlos Jobim, first released as a single, and shortly thereafter as the album by Gilberto, bearing the same title as the song (1959).

With João Gilberto as "guru", bossa-nova acquired a large following right away, comprising young musicians, as well as fans, mostly young people, often college students. Later on, people of all ages and of all walks of life have also become admirers of the style.

Origins and history

The music derives from samba but is more complex harmonically and less percussive. The influence on bossa nova of North American jazz styles such as cool jazz is often debated by historians and fans, but a similar "cool sensibility" is apparent.

The initial releases by Gilberto and the 1959 film Black Orpheus brought huge popularity in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America, and this spread to North America by way of visiting American jazz musicians. The resulting recordings by Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz cemented its popularity there, and led to world-wide boom with 1963's Getz/Gilberto, numerous recordings by famous jazz performers such as Ella Fitzgerald (Ella Abraça Jobim) and Frank Sinatra (Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim), and the entrenchment of the bossa-nova style as a lasting influence in world music for several decades and to date.

While the popularity of bossa nova waned by the late 1960s, it exerted a great influence on subsequent Brazilian popular music styles such as tropicália and MPB.

Instruments

Bossa nova is most commonly performed on the nylon-string classical guitar, played finger style (without a pick). Its purest form could be considered unaccompanied guitar with vocals, as exemplified by João Gilberto. Even in larger jazz-like arrangements for groups, there is almost always a guitar that plays the underlying rhythm.

Though not as prominent as the guitar, the piano is another important instrument of bossa nova; Jobim wrote for the piano and performed on it for most of his own recordings. The piano has also served as a stylistic bridge between bossa nova and jazz, enabling a great deal of cross-pollination between the two.

Drums and percussion are not considered essential bossa nova instruments. Nonetheless, there is a distinctive bossa nova drumming style, characterized by continuous eighths on the high-hat (mimicking the samba tambourine) and tapping of the rim.

Lush orchestral accompaniment is often associated with bossa nova's North American image as "elevator" or "lounge" music. While it is present in much of Jobim's own recordings, it is rarely heard elsewhere.

Structure

Bossa nova is at its core a rhythm based on samba. Samba combines rhythmic patterns and feel originating in former African slave communities with elements of European march music. Samba's emphasis on the first beat carries through to bossa nova (to the degree that it is often notated in 2/4 time). When played on the guitar, the thumb plays the bass notes on 1 and 3, while the fingers pluck the chords in unison on 1 and 2, delayed on 3. Overall, the rhythm has a swaying rather than swinging (as in jazz) feel. As bossa nova composer Carlos Lyra describes it in his song "Influência do Jazz", the samba rhythm moves "side to side" while jazz moves "front to back".

Here is an example of a basic bossa nova rhythm as would be played on a guitar, using a C6/9 chord.

In terms of harmonic structure, bossa nova has a great deal in common with jazz, in its sophisticated use of seventh and extended chords. The first bossa nova song, "Chega de Saudade," borrowed some structural elements from choro; however, later compositions rarely followed this form. Jobim often used challenging, almost dissonant melody lines, the best-known being in the tunes "Desafinado" or "Off-Key".

In the early bossa nova recordings, in terms of lyrical themes and length of songs (typically two to four minutes), bossa nova is very much a "popular music" style. However, the typical structure differs slightly from European and North American rock-based music's standard format of two verses followed by a bridge, and a closing verse; bossa nova songs usually have no more than two lyrical verses, and almost never a bridge. Some of João Gilberto's earliest recordings were less than two minutes long, and some had a single lyrical verse that was simply repeated.

Origin of the term "bossa nova"

Bossa nova means "new bossa". However, the word "bossa", itself, was often used by musicians prior to the "Chega De Saudade" recording. In Brazil, when someone does anything with "bossa" (com bossa), it meant (and still does) that the "something" is performed with particular charm and flair. In 1932, Noel Rosa used the word in a samba...which went O samba, a prontidão e outras bossas/São nossas coisas, são coisas nossas (The samba, the promptitude and other bossas/Are our specialities.)"

List of bossa nova artists

Other artists associated with bossa nova

References

McGowan, Chris and Pessanha, Ricardo. "The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil." 1998. 2nd edition. Temple University Press. ISBN 1-56639-545-3

External links