BOSSA NOVA AT CARNEGIE HALL FULL ALBUM

lj

Well-Known Member
Bossa Nova arrived at America's shores in 1962 in a big way. First, the Getz/Byrd "Jazz Samba" album went to Number 1 on the Billboard album charts. Then the Paul Winter group performed Bossa Nova at the White House before Jackie Kennedy. Then in December 1962, on the CBS TV news series Eyewitness there was an episode entitled "Bossa Nova--The New Beat". But the seminal moment that year was Bossa Nova at Carnegie Hall from November 1962. It was important because this was the first time Brazilian Bossa Nova artists went overseas to publicize their musical sound. After the show, Bossa Nova truly became an international sound. For example, before the show Jobim was a star, but after the show he became a superstar as the recording of his composition "The Girl From Ipanema" in 1963 with Getz/Gilberto became a worldwide hit. Sergio Mendes experimented with his sound, and it wasn't until 1966 that he found the right formula with Brasil 66 and worldwide success. The same could be said of Walter Wanderley who recorded the Marcos Valle composition "Summer Samba" and in 1966 it made it to Billboard's Top 40.

Ironically the Brazilian artists at Carnegie Hall were their own worst critics complaining about the microphones and the poor sound. Well the sound you will hear per the link below sounds fine to me, and this CD is at the very top of my musical collection.

 
Here is an excellent, short Brazilian video pertaining to this Carnegie Hall concert. Included is a video snippet of the Oscar Castro Neves Quartet (Neves on piano) playing the Carlos Lyra composition "Influence of Jazz." Most of us know Neves as being a guitarist, but I was surprised to learn some years ago that he was also a master of the keyboards. In fact, in this concert his quartet is featured more than any other artist.

 
Here is my favorite track from the concert--Joao Gilberto's hauntingly beautiful version of the Jobim composition "Outra Vez." Gilberto is a living legend in Brazil, born in 1931. He has been called the "Father of Bossa Nova" as he invented the uniquely syncopated way of playing the acoustic guitar with a quiet way of singing Brazilian songs. His way of singing is reminiscent of the West Coast jazz performer, Chet Baker.

Interestingly, Jobim wrote this song in the Samba-cancao pop music period of Brazil, which preceded Bossa Nova. But Gilberto owns this song, as he made it into a quintessential Bossa Nova classic per the Bossa arrangement.

 
This song from the concert is only a mere 1 minute 23 seconds. So I'll call it the greatest Brazilian short song ever. "Passarinho" (little bird) is composed and performed by Chico Feitosa. His whistling in a nifty way even mimics a birdie. Simply blissful music. Feitosa also co-wrote the song "Ye Me Le" interpreted by Brasil 66.

 
From this concert is the Sergio Mendes group performing "One Note Samba." Mendes' mentor was pianist Horace Silver, who was a proponent of the Hard Bop school of jazz. You can hear echoes of hard bop in this performance. Sergio could have had a nice career as a jazz musician, but as we know he made a permanent 180 degree turn into pop music and and eventual financial security and wealth, and regrettably security and wealth is never the fate for most jazz artists.

 
Some 50 years later, here is a brief summary of this concert at the Carnegie Hall website. Interestingly, two giants associated with Bossa Nova and who appeared at this concert--Antonio Carlos Jobim and Stan Getz--are not included on the CD. I suppose this is because their recording contracts in 1962 restricted inclusion on the original and future audio releases. What a shame that their audio contributions are lost to history. Although the concert was filmed, the only video in the public domain is the snippet with the Oscar Castro Neves Quartet I referred to in an earlier post.

Live from Carnegie Hall Bossa Nova
 
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