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Resolved: Bossa Nova is the greatest musical genre of all time!

Fred Weiss

Fred Weiss

Merchant Member
Speaking for the Pro side of the question:

Bossa Nova, a very mellow Brazilian jazz form, became very popular around the world in the 1960's bringing composers like Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Bonfá, João Gilberto, Walter Wanderly and many others. New performing artists such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Sérgio Mendes and Eliane Elias were joined by more familiar artists including Charlie Byrd, Stan Getz, Dusty Springfield, Eydie Gorme, Tony Bennett, Andy Williams, Mason Williams, Pat Boone, Dave Brubeck, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Kinks, Frank Sinatra, The Doors, Robert Palmer, George Michael, The Black Eyed Peas, Shakira and dozens more.

Notable compositions include:

  • Manha de Carnaval
  • The Girl from Ipanema
  • How Insensitive
  • Quiet Nights
  • And I Love her
  • Fool on the Hill
  • Desafinado
  • Mas Que Nada
  • Meditation
  • Summer Samba
  • Gentle Rain
  • Cast Your Fate to the Wind
  • The Look of Love
As a musical genre, it is difficult to impossible to find a composition or a performance that one does not thoroughly enjoy.
 
sar bossier

sar bossier

New Member
Wow, Fred - cool info - I love The Girl from Impanema. Haven't heard a lot of Brazillian jazz, but ours here is pretty eclectic, and smooth listening. Check out Big Bad Voodoo Daddy sometime - different, but love their sound.
 
rfulford

rfulford

New Member
Fred Weiss said:
Check out this version of Manha de Carnaval by Mason Williams (famous for Classical Gas) in which he takes a trip from classic bossa nova to country to big orchestra back to country and ending with classic bossa nova. I've always liked it better than Classical Gas.
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Thanks. I think I will add it to the ipod. My wife and I listen to a lot of lot of Bossa Nova. Years ago, I found a bunch of Stan Getz albums at the Salvation Army and decided to check them out because their condition was flawless. I was blown away by Getz au Go Go.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Bossa Nova is a truly beautiful style of music. Being a dancer, if danced correctly, Bossa Nova is pure beauty in motion from being in close dance position to some really neat moves on the dance floor.

Fred, I’m not sure if the piece you mentioned Manha de Carnaval by Mason Williams is really Bossa Nova in a pure sense of musicality. The original version is, but this is more of a Bolero, turning into a country 2 step, then into more of a Flamenco style and then finally back into country and then a nice ending. An exceptional piece and arrangement, but many times, Americans don’t/can’t re-produce things in the same native flavor and it’s like having an accent when speaking…. it carries over to one’s music abilities. Williams style is very similar, but not quite Bossa Nova. That’s a feel all its own, but r-e-a-l easy to listen to nonetheless. However, Wanderly has it down-pat.

Again, this is coming from the musicality end and not the listening end.

Another type of music to listen to is authentic Argentine Tangos.

Forever Tango
Tango Pasion
Gotan
……….and so many more​
 
Fred Weiss

Fred Weiss

Merchant Member
I can't disagree with your take on Mason Williams' version. It's from an album named Handmade that covers a lot of ground because, as he says in his album notes, Williams "had the power". I happen to have the album on vinyl. It goes all the way from Classical Gas to The Tomato Vendetta ... which is a total riot with nothing to do with bossa nova. All in all, very tongue-in-cheek. I think Williams was trying to demonstrate the possibilities of different genres for the same composition with his version of Manha de Carnaval.

Whatever license Williams took with Manha, I've found it totally enjoyable from the first time I heard it.
 
Colin

Colin

New Member
Yup! Absolutely love this music. I have a CD of this stuff and regularly play it in the back yard in the summer. Makes me dream of warmer climes in the winter.
 
bob

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Resolved: Bossa Nova is the greatest musical genre of all time!
Click to expand...

Especially if you suffer from insomnia or you fancy long elevator rides.

You could interrupt a tune in this genre in mid-note, substitute another, and no one would notice.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Maybe for you, but not for many.

I'm not going to presume anything, especially with you :rolleyes:, but for some this could very easily be true. For instance, if you have no idea of the clave or the tumbaó, you could very quickly substitute one note for another and not miss a beat, if you don't have a trained or at least disciplined ear. Such effects as the cáscara or the campana [bell], also give flavor to the various sounds or melodies. The main ingredient in my opinion is the montuno followed by the güiro. This is where it all comes together. Most of these sounds, notes or rhythms are played by individual instruments. It's not like your American big bands or 5 man combos where they all beat out and play basically the same scratching sounds with a solo every other chorus. Of course the Bossa Nova and other Latin sounds had their share of Latin big bands like Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Willie Colon, Johnny Pacheco to the more modern days performers like Gloria Estefan and Marc Anthony, which is very different from the traditionalists. For me, I'd miss the note you wanna take out like you'd miss a letter removed from a paragraph on a page in a book. It can be done, but it would be like fingernails on a blackboard.

So, if you like going up & down in elevators, more power to ya, but making a silly suggestion of changing notes and no one will notice, that's a little far fetched.

:peace!:​
 
bob

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Gino said:
...
So, if you like going up & down in elevators, more power to ya, but making a silly suggestion of changing notes and no one will notice, that's a little far fetched.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I wasn't perfectly clear. I didn't mean substitute another note, I meant substitute another entire tune.

Even if all of the notes and progressions have their own special names, they are sufficiently boring as to be functionally identical.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
bob said:
Sorry, I wasn't perfectly clear. I didn't mean substitute another note, I meant substitute another entire tune.

Even if all of the notes and progressions have their own special names, they are sufficiently boring as to be functionally identical.
Click to expand...

Do you know how true that is of everything and anything in life when you're not near to the core.... or something is close to your passion ??


I can look at a car and it be the most ugliest and dumbest car to me, but to the next guy, it's his dream car.

I can see it raining and for me it's a great big inconvenience and worse thing to happen and the next guy looks at it like... it's gonna save his crops.

I can hear the birds and crickets chirping and feel their loudness and ringing in my ears as a nuisance, but the guy/gal who is basically hard of hearing... it's a blessing in disguise.


Yep, we all have our tastes in things and thank goodness we all don't think or feel alike or we'd all be riding up and down in elevators memorizing the route, while listening to Tiny Tim.... Tip Toeing Through the Tulips..... whistling along :omg:
 
GAC05

GAC05

Quit buggin' me
Makes me want to put on my dancing shoes and head out....

wayne k
guam usa
 

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