Bossa nova : the story of the Brazilian music that seduced the world

Bossa nova is one of the most popular musical genres in the world. Songs such as “The Girl from Ipanema” (the fifth most frequently played song in the world), “The Waters of March,” and “Desafinado” are known around the world. __Bossa Nova__—a number-one bestseller when originally published in Brazil as __Chega de saudade__—is a definitive history of this seductive music. Based on extensive interviews with Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, and all the major musicians and their friends, __Bossa Nova__ explains how a handful of Rio de Janeiro teenagers changed the face of popular culture around the world. Now, in this outstanding translation, the full flavor of Ruy Castro’s wisecracking, chatty Portuguese comes through in a feast of detail. Along the way he introduces a cast of unforgettable characters who turned Gilberto’s singular vision into the sound of a generation. Front Cover Copyright Page Dedication Note to the Reader Contents Introduction and Acknowledgments Foreword Prologue: Juazeiro, 1948 Part I: The Great Dream 1. The Sounds That Came out of the Basement 2. Hot Times at the Lojas Murray 3. Battle of the Vocal Ensembles 4. The Mountains, the Sun, and the Sea 5. Torchy Copacabana 6. The Gang 7. In Search of the Lost Self 8. The Arrival of the Beat 9. One Minute and Fifty-Nine Seconds That Changed Everything 10. “Desafinado” (Off-Key) Part II: The Long Holiday 11. Bossa Nova Goes to School 12. Colorful Harmonies 13. Love, a Smile, and a Flower 14. It’s Salt, It’s Sun, It’s South 15. Bossa Nova for Sale 16. “Garota de Ipanema” (The Girl from Ipanema) 17. A Bite of the Apple 18. The Armed Flower 19. Shuttle Service 20. The Diaspora 21. The World as an Exit Epilogue: What Happened to Them A Select Bossa Nova Discography Glossary Index Back Cover Bossa nova is one of the most popular musical genres in the world. Songs such as “The Girl from Ipanema” (the fifth most frequently played song in the world), “The Waters of March,” and “Desafinado” are known around the world. Bossa Nova —a number-one bestseller when originally published in Brazil as Chega de saudade —is a definitive history of this seductive music. Based on extensive interviews with Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, and all the major musicians and their friends, Bossa Nova explains how a handful of Rio de Janeiro teenagers changed the face of popular culture around the world. Now, in this outstanding translation, the full flavor of Ruy Castro’s wisecracking, chatty Portuguese comes through in a feast of detail. Along the way he introduces a cast of unforgettable characters who turned Gilberto’s singular vision into the sound of a generation. Bossa nova is one of the most popular musical genres in the world. Songs such as "The Girl from Ipanema" (the fifth most frequently played song in the world), "The Waters of March" and "Desafinado" are known around the world. Bossa Nova , a number-one bestseller when originally published in Brazil as Chega de saudade , is a definitive history of this seductive music. Based on extensive interviews with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto, and all the major musicians and their friends, Bossa Nova explains how a handful of Rio de Janeiro teenagers changed the face of popular culture around the world. Now, in this outstanding translation, the full flavor of Ruy Castro wisecracking, chatty Portuguese comes through in a feast of detail. Along the way he introduces a cast of unforgettable characters who turned Gilberto's singular vision into the sound of a generation.

Bossa nova is one of the most popular musical genres in the world. Songs such as "The Girl from Ipanema" (the fifth-most-played song in the world), "The Waters of March," and "Desafinado" are known from one end of the earth to the other. This book, the one and only, definitive account of the history of bossa nova, relives the culture of Rio during its heyday. Based on extensive interviews with Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, and all the major musicians and their friends, Bossa Nova is full of passion and betrayal, love and hate, comedy and tragedy.

New Yorker

Follows an Altmanesque cast of night-club pianists, newspaper columnists, students, diplomats, and poets in a milieu as free-wheeling as Fifty-second Street at the birth of bebop.

"Based on extensive interviews with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto, and all the major musicians and their friends, Bossa Nova explains how a handful of Rio de Janeiro teenagers changed the face of popular culture around the world."--BOOK JACKET. In the summer of 1949, the natives were restless in the land of Carnival.