Bossa Nova do Brasil concert from 1966

lj

Well-Known Member
Here is a musical treasure, as this video from a German November 1966 concert is amazingly-- to the best of my knowledge--the only full video for public viewing of a Bossa Nova concert during its heyday of the late 1950s-60s. What makes this show so special to me is the appearance of the great Sylvia Telles--arguably Bossa's best female vocalist. She was there at Bossa's very beginning in the late 1950s and was a musical force until her untimely death in a December 1966 car accident. That's why the shows header on YouTube showing 1967 is wrong. She and Jobim were close and he even wrote a song to honor her: "Dindi"--her nickname. She was known as a free spirit and lived life to its fullest. But this show is even more than Bossa Nova. For example, it also has Macumba with Marly Tavares doing some incredible dancing with Rubens Bassini as one of the drummers. You have a bit of samba/Carnival music. And as a special treat is Edu Lobo singing two of his songs, as an early example of MPB. I like the way he sings "Reza" (Prayer) slowly, as prayers are usually paced that way. Other versions of Reza seem to be up-tempo. So there you have it--an amazing Brazilian show and time capsule you can see for free. And it doesn't get any better than this.

 
"Upa Neginho" has quite a rousing rendition here. One of my favorites of Lobo's. I'll have to watch the rest of this later. 👍👍

The 1967 might have been the air date of the show, even if it were recorded in 1966.
 
Backing musicians for Sylvia Telles and Edu Lobo were: Dom Savador (p), Sergio Barroso (b), Chico Batera (d), JT Meirelles (flute & sax), Jorge
Arena (perc.), Rubens Bassini (perc.) who joined Sergio Mendes'Brasil'66 (second edition of the group) in 1968.
This fabulous concert featured guitar virtuoso Rosinha de Valença who played with the Sergio Mendes trio on the Brasil'65 LP, including Chico Batera, one year before.
Sylvia Telles, darling of Bossa Nova, cut the fisrt Bossa cover of "Baubles, bangles and beads" on Kapp label the same year (1966), a few months
before Frank Sinatra recorded his famous cover, on the Sinatra/Jobim LP
 
Thanks braziliandrummers for listing all the participants. They are all truly solid-gold artists.
 
Is there anyone out there who knows Portuguese and can translate? Here is an interview of the incredibly talented Marly Tavares who did the candomble dance from this Bossa Nova show.
 
Here is a fantastic song--Surfin' in Rio--performed by Sylvia Telles, and written by Marcos Valle, from her "The Face I Love" album. She sings in English with no accent, and at first I thought the voice might be Joanie Sommers. She sang so marvelously on the above German Bossa Nova video that I had to get her last album released in 1966. It easily rose into my list of top 10 favorite Bossa Nova albums. Sylvia sings effortlessly and beautifully with a light jazz/Bossa vibe. The arranger is the famed Lindolpho Gaya and guitarists/composers Luis Bonfa and Roberto Menescal back her up. This album is a treasured way for me to remember the musical legacy of Sylvia. Tracks from this album are played on a remarkable streaming station--Radio Bossa Nova Brazil. I purchased this album a month ago from Shuga Records in Chicago. Their service was fast and efficient.

Sylvia Telles - Surfin' In Rio (by EarpJohn) - YouTube
 
Here is another musical gem--"Eu Preciso de Voce"-- sung by Sylvia Telles and written by Jobim and de Oliveira from 1959 at the start of the Bossa Nova musical revolution.

 
Is there anyone out there who knows Portuguese and can translate? Here is an interview of the incredibly talented Marly Tavares who did the candomble dance from this Bossa Nova show.
Very long interview! Also, my listening comprehension is admittedly lower than my reading comprehension. I can translate lyrics but Brazilians tend to speak very quickly and tend to speak in a less-than-formal register. :tongue:
 
Here is another musical gem--"Eu Preciso de Voce"-- sung by Sylvia Telles and written by Jobim and de Oliveira from 1959 at the start of the Bossa Nova musical revolution.


Como o sol precisa de um poente
Eu preciso de você, só de você
Como toda orquestra de um regente
Eu preciso de você, só de você

Como a flor precisa de perfume
E a mulher de ter ciúme
Quando o seu amor não vê

Preciso tanto de você

Como a noite busca a madrugada
Eu preciso de você, só de você
Se o poeta busca a bem amada
Eu preciso de você, só de você

Só você não sabe a solidão
De tão imensa é uma doença
Que me deu no coração

Se o ateu precisa de uma crença
Eu preciso de você

Translation:
Like the sun needs a sunset
I need you, only you
Like every orchestra needs a conductor
I need you, only you

Like the flower needs a fragrance
And the woman needs to have jealousy
When her love doesn't see

I need you so much

Like the night seeks the early morning
I need you, only you
If the poet seeks the woman well-loved
I need you, only you

You just don't know the solitude
So immense it's an illness
That you gave me in my heart

If the atheist needs a belief
I need you
 
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Very long interview! Also, my listening comprehension is admittedly lower than my reading comprehension. I can translate lyrics but Brazilians tend to speak very quickly and tend to speak in a less-than-formal register. :tongue:
Your point is well taken, that is, the difficulty of understanding someone speaking quickly and in an informal manner in a foreign language.
 
Como o sol precisa de um poente
Eu preciso de você, só de você
Como toda orquestra de um regente
Eu preciso de você, só de você

Como a flor precisa de perfume
E a mulher de ter ciúme
Quando o seu amor não vê

Preciso tanto de você

Como a noite busca a madrugada
Eu preciso de você, só de você
Se o poeta busca a bem amada
Eu preciso de você, só de você

Só você não sabe a solidão
De tão imensa é uma doença
Que me deu no coração

Se o ateu precisa de uma crença
Eu preciso de você

Translation:
Like the sun needs a sunset
I need you, only you
Like every orchestra needs a conductor
I need you, only you

Like the flower needs a fragrance
And the woman needs to have jealousy
When her love doesn't see

I need you so much

Like the night seeks the early morning
I need you, only you
If the poet seeks the woman well-loved
I need you, only you

You just don't know the solitude
So immense it's an illness
That you gave me in my heart

If the atheist needs a belief
I need you
Thank you for the translation of this beautiful song. The lyrics were written by Sylvia's second husband, the renown Aloisio de Oliveira. He had a multifaceted career as: (1) a lyricist, (2) singer--he sang Ary Barroso's world famous song "Aquarela do Brasil" in the Disney film, and (3) record producer, as he helped launch the careers of people like Jobim and Gilberto.
 
Here is an excellent biography of Aloisio de Oliveira. He even produced Lani Hall's "A Brazileira".

I doubt anyone else would be interested in this tidbit, but I find it interesting that it's spelled "A Brazileira." "Brazileira" is an old/antiquated spelling of today's "Brasileira," with an S. Back in the 1800s, prior to the Portuguese language having some sort of standardized orthography, each author/scribe/writer would spell however they felt was right. In many ways, the authors and scribes of the day were highly, highly educated, so they would use various rules from French or Greek or even English, like "philosophia" instead of today's simplified "filosofia." (Today's spelling would be as if in English we were to write "filosofie.") They used to use the letter Y as well (today the letter Y is antiquated/not used). So, rhythmo or rythmo became ritmo, and etymologia became etimologia. Brazil/brazileiro/brazileira was also part of that "old" spelling that was standardized to Brasil/brasileiro/brasileira some time in the early 20th century.

You may notice that Aloísio de Oliveira sometimes spelled his name as Aloysio de Oliveira; this is another example of how Y survived in certain contexts, like names, but not in everyday words. You may also see the last name "Moraes" (cf. Spanish "Morales"); technically, the "proper" spelling today is "Morais," but some families favor the traditional -aes ending. <!- like, for instance, the lyricist Vinícius de Moraes, who worked with Tom Jobim. :)
 
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Cuyler--your language observation was very informative. When I went to college there was a tiny Linguistics department. I can see why linguistics, that it, the scientific study of language is a most fascinating subject matter.
 
Here is a language/spelling tidbit. In the Western countries of Europe, and North and South America, I have repeatedly noticed that nameplates on older buildings constructed in the first half of the 20th century had the letter U replaced by the letter V. For example, the nameplate on my parents high school was spelled Evclid Central High School. Not today's conventional Euclid.
 
Here is a language/spelling tidbit. In the Western countries of Europe, and North and South America, I have repeatedly noticed that nameplates on older buildings constructed in the first half of the 20th century had the letter U replaced by the letter V. For example, the nameplate on my parents high school was spelled Evclid Central High School. Not today's conventional Euclid.
It's a trip seeing old Portuguese and Spanish books of the 17th century with U replaced by V, I replaced by J, and other little oddities. I think only around 1700 did a consensus build that U and I are for vowels, and V and J are for consonants. Up until then, it was a free-for-all, just like how Portuguese spelling was before 1911!
 
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