1959: Frankie Would Say, “IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR!”

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NOVA BOSSA: Red Hot On Verve
by Assorted Artists
released: 1996
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If you have read my review for the album [link> 'Bossa Nova For Lovers' then you know that I’ve only just recently discovered that I’ve been in love with Bossa Nova for pretty much my entire life without ever knowing it. (And if you haven’t read that review, I’d like to know why not! I mean, if you’re not hanging on my every word, then I’m just going to stop nailing them up there. ;o)
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I purchased two Bossa Nova collections as soon as I realized that “Bossa Nova” was the name of the musical genre that my heart has been carrying around for the past 43 years. (I do catch on, but slowly.) I acquired the aforementioned set because I’m a real “lover” -- yeah, bring it on ladies! (But I’m a “fighter”, too, so watch yer step, dude!) And I simultaneously bought “NOVA BOSSA: RED HOT ON VERVE”, and danged if I can tell ya which one I like best, because they’re both Boss! I might prefer this collection overall, only by the slimmest margin, but “For Lovers” includes Astrud Gilberto’s “The Shadow Of Your Smile”, and without that song in my collection, my smile would be turned upside down. :o(
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I found John Carlin’s liner notes included with this compact disc to be very informative, so I’m copying them below:
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“Brazilian music is American music. It comes from the same multicultural fusion that spawned blues, jazz, salsa, reggae and rock. In Brazil it is called samba. Samba fused three sounds that thrived in Rio de Janeiro at the end of the 19th century: West African polyrhythms, Portuguese melodies, and Native American chants. [*By chants were you aware that I’m part Mohawk Indian? I want 40 acres of land and a jackass! Oh wait, I’M the jackass.*]
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"This potent combination was turned into a classic myth by the poet Vinicius de Moraes, whose play [link> “Black Orpheus” brought Afrocentric Brazilian culture and samba to international attention. In the well-known film version, Orpheus dies for love, but his artistic spirit lives on in a young boy who picks up Orpheus’ guitar and plays his song to make the sun rise. The beauty of the music makes the film’s heavy-handed theme credible. Orpheus’ song, “A Felicidade”, composed by a young Antonio Carlos Jobim, comes out of samba culture while effortlessly introducing something new and even more beautiful to the world. That sound later became known as bossa nova, the new wave. It was created by Jobim and de Moraes along with the great singer/guitarist Joao Gilberto. Inspired by samba, along with the sophistication of Debussy and Cole Porter, Jobim began writing simple, beautiful songs that suggested, but were never burdened by their eccentric harmonies, asymmetrical structures and abstract thoughts.
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“Within a few years, American jazz musicians like Herbie Mann, Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz began to sample these new exotic songs. By 1962, Jobim’s “The Girl From Ipanema” performed by Getz with Joao Gilberto and his wife Astrud, on the Verve label, became the biggest hit in the U.S., the year before the Beatles arrived. [*According to my Billboard book, it was '64.*] The success of the song and the bossa beat created a pop formula capitalized upon by Astrud, Sergio Mendes, Walter Wanderley and others throughout the mid-Sixties. At the same time, Jobim and Gilberto – as well as musicians like the Tamba Trio, Edu Lobo, Baden Powell and Marcos Valle – continued to refine bossa and samba into one of the finest means of expression in the world of pop music.
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“By the late ‘60s, a new generation of artists began to emerge in Brazil from the Afrocentric northeastern state of Bahia. Led by Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, they merged bossa with rock by adding more aggressive beats and avoiding romantic lyrics. This new movement, called tropicalismo, demonstrated the continued vitality of Brazilian music and that samba, like the blues, grew from the multicultural character of the Americas to become one of the great art forms of the 20th century.”
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~ John Carlin
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I saw the movie “BLACK ORPHEUS” in the late ‘80s because I tremendously enjoyed Vince Guaraldi’s song “Cast Your Fate To The Wind”, which I knew had first appeared on his album titled, “Jazz Impressions Of Black Orpheus.” I don’t recall being much impressed with the movie back then, but seeing it a second time is suddenly a priority for me. (“NOVA BOSSA: RED HOT ON VERVE” begins with Jobim’s “A Felicidade” taken directly from the 1959 “BLACK ORPHEUS” soundtrack. I feel it’s spoiled a bit by the voices and various other audio portions of the film’s soundtrack, but historically, it’s still the perfect opening for a Bossa Nova set. And I can’t tell you how cool I think it is that Bossa Nova was introduced to the world at large in the same year that I entered into it.)
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The so-called “Interludes” on this set are merely 15-30 second snippets of drums, ocean and street sounds, etc. I’m not sure what their purpose is, and I could have done without them, thank you very much. But they don’t diminish my listening pleasure because the tunes are simply Mmmm-Mmmm Good! I swear, I love Bossa Nova. My only wish is that some of the tracks were extended: it seems that no sooner has a particular rhythm and melody enveloped me and begun carving grooves into my heart and soul than it comes to an end and we’re off to the next delicious slice of Bossa Nova. Oh well, “Leave ‘em wanting more” is the old entertainment maxim.
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I dig every song on “NOVA BOSSA: RED HOT ON VERVE”, although Caetano Veloso’s “Superbacana” is pretty goofy. Why do I see The Brady Bunch in my mind when that one plays? No, seriously, why? But this is a funky Fun Fiesta; less Saudade than the 'Bossa Nova For Lovers' disc, which is perfectly fine with me because now I have a Bossa Nova concert for both moods. If you too have a heart for Bossa Nova, I can guarantee your satisfaction with this first-class set.
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And speaking of the heart, always remember what that great Brazilian pianist Yoey O’Dogherty once said to a group of budding Bossa Nova musicians in 1963: “Listen with your heart, speak with your fingers, and love with your -- HEY! Who took my beer?”
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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