Bossa Nova in Brazil before Stan Getz

[HWright]

One question I've always been interested in is what bossa nova recordings came out in Brazil before Bossa Nova became popular in the US (via Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd). I managed to find a Brazilian website (in Portuguese) dedicated to Jobim that revealed that many of Jobim's most famous compositions first appeared on Brazilian LPs by a number of other artists the most well known of whom is João Gilberto. On these LPs Jobim acts as composer, side-man and sometimes even arranger/musical director. I asked a Brazilian colleague if these albums had ever been reissued on CD in Brazil and she said she didn't think so. I'd certainly never heard of them before.

My question to the Board: have they been put out in Japan or somewhere else? Does anyone else have any resources about these early days of Bossa Nova in Brazil that they would care to share?

[Brandon Burke]

I believe most of that stuff was issued on CD by Phillips (Brasil). I mean, when you think about it, why in the world would recordings that popular not be in print...in Brasil, anyway.

[jazzbo]

A number of these have been reissued in Brazil, in Japan. . . even in the US (in the case of the Gilberto lps, tnree of which were all reissued on a single Pacific Jazz cd that has long been out of print).

There was a three cd set of early Jobim works (as arranger, producer, etc.) that may still be around. . . .

Some of these are still available. . . .Dusty Groove has a wallet draining amount of albums like this. . . .

[jazzbo]

Possibly still available! Out of stock right now from Dusty Groove, but they've had it consistently before. . . .

Various -- Tom Jobim Raros Compassos . . . CD . . . $29.99

Revivendo (Brazil), 1950s/1960s/1970s (3CD) Condition: New Copy

Out Of Stock: Hit the 'Send Request' button to receive an email notice if the item comes back in.

A secret treasure! This cool 3 CD set brings together 75 rare Jobim tracks -- most of them recorded by other singers, and most of them pretty darn obscure! Given the amount of Jobim rehash material that's been on the market since his death, we're extra happy to see a set like this that pushes the envelope a bit further -- and which goes out of its way to include the kinds of work that will keep on evolving Jobim's legacy for years. A good deal of the material seems to be remastered from vinyl copies, and the sound isn't always great -- but the project is legit from what we can tell, and the set's gotten an awful lot of good press from Brazil. Way too many titles to mention here, but the set features work by Norma Suely, Nelly Martins, Mario Reis, Wilson Miranda, Ana Lucia, Dick Farney, Carlos Jose, Mara e Cota, Edu Da Gaita, Carlos Augusto, Maria Helena Raposo, and many other obscure Brazilian singers!

Also do a search at Dusty Groove for "Jobim". . . you'll see quite a bit.

[Jim R]

Just to add to what Lon said, here is just a sampling of titles that have come out on CD (this is just a list of material recorded between '58 and '63, but I would urge you to also look beyond 1963, as there was much more great music made by these and other artists throughout the 1960's)...

Lucio Alves Balançamba Elenco

Leny Andrade / Johnny Alf Acervo Especial: Leny Andrade & Johnny Alf RCA / BMG

Leny Andrade A Sensaçao BMG (RCA)

Milton Banana Milton Banana EMI (Odeon)

Milton Banana The Rhythm and the Sound of Bossa Nova (O Ritmo e o Som Da Bossa Nova) Ubatuqui (Audio Fidelity)

Luiz Bonfa O Violao E O Samba * EMI (Odeon)

Luiz Bonfa Recado Novo De Luiz BonfÁ EMI (Odeon)

Luiz Bonfa Bossa Nova Verve

Bossa Tres Bossa Tres E Jo Basile Ubatuqui (Audio Fidelity)

Bossa Tres Bossa Tres Em Forma! Polygram (Forma) (Japan)

Bossa Tres Bossa Tres (Audio Fidelity) Ubatuqui

Elizete Cardoso Cançao Do Amor Demais Festa/Movieplay

Luiz Chaves Projeçao RGE (Brazil)

Vinicius de Moraes / Odette Lara Vinicius + Odette Lara Polygram (Elenco)

Joao Donato Muito A Vontade Polyfar (Brazil)

Joao Donato A Bossa Muito Moderna De Donato E Seu Trio Philips / Polydor (Japan)

Luiz Eça Luiz Eça EMI (Odeon,Copacabana)

Luiz Eça & Astor Silva Cada Qual Melhor EMI (Odeon)

Astrud Gilberto Compact Jazz Verve

Joao Gilberto The Legendary Joao Gilberto: The Original Bossa Nova Recordings, 1958-61 World Pacific (Odeon)

Jon Hendricks Salud! Joao Gilberto Collectables (Reprise)

Antonio Carlos Jobim The Composer Of Desafinado Plays Verve

Quincy Jones Big Band Bossa Nova Verve (Mercury)

Nara Leao A Bossa De Nara * Universal

Nara Leao NARA Elenco (Japan)

Carlos Lyra Bossa Nova Philips (Japan)

Edison Machado Edison Machado e Samba Novo Columbia / CBS / Sony (Brazil)

Ze Maria Tudo Azul Continental

Sergio Mendes Dance Moderno Philips (Japan)

Roberto Menescal Bossa Nova Odeon (Japan)

Roberto Menescal A Bossa Nova Elenco

Os Cariocas A Bossa Dos / Mais Bossa Com Philips (Japan)

Baden Powell Le Monde Musical De Baden Powell Barclay (Polydor, Japan)

Pery Ribeiro Pery E Todo Bossa / Sings Bossa Nova Hits Copacabana (EMI)

Lalo Schifrin Tin Tin Deo Fresh Sound

Lalo Schifrin Bossa Nova Groove (Bossa Nova / Bossa Nova- New Brazilian Jazz ) Ubatuqui (Vee Jay / Audio Fidelity)

Lalo Schifrin Insensatez Verve (Japan)

Wilson Simonal Wilson Simonal EMI (Odeon)

Tamba Trio Tamba Trio (1962) Polygram (Japan)

Tamba Trio Avanço / Tempo Philips (Japan)

Silvia Telles Silvia Odeon (Japan)

Silvia Telles Amor De Gente Moça Odeon (Japan)

Silvia Telles U. S. A. Philips (Japan)

Silvia Telles / Lucio Alves / Roberto Menescal Bossa Session Elenco (Japan)

Silvia Telles Amor Em Hi Fi Philips (Japan)

Silvia Telles Bossa Balanço Balada Polygram (Elenco)

Sylvia Telles Sylvia Telles EMI

Various Artists Bossa Nova: Sua Historia, Sua Gente Philips /Polygram Brazil

Various Artists Bossa Nova Ao Vivo* Discmedi (RGE)

Walter Wanderley O Samba E Mais Samba EMI (Odeon)

Walter Wanderley Samba No Esquema EMI (Odeon)

Paul Winter Jazz Meets The Bossa Nova Columbia (Sony)

Paul Winter Rio Columbia (Japan)

Zimbo Trio 20 Preferidas RGE

You can also look at this thread for more related suggestions:

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=10523

[jazzbo]

Excellent job Jim; some great music in there on those that I have heard!

Also, the Paul Winters were reissued on Collectables much cheaper than the Japanese versions!

[fent99]

The Gilberto on Pacific Jazz is the one to find and the place to start (an incomplete blue coloured Spanish Blue note version might fill in as a stopgap I've seen around the UK recently)

The label the the 3 cd set of Jobim is on Revivendo are historical pre-bossa specialists.

there is a guide to their reissues here:

http://www.slipcue.com/music/brazil/aa_labels/revivendo.html

and brazillian music generally here:

http://www.slipcue.com/music/brazil/brazillist.html

[HWright]

Thanks to everyone who replied.

[jazzbo]

fent, I remember seeing TWO Spanish Blue Notes of Gilberto; it appears they split them into two cds. . . .

But I haven't seen either available in a long time.

[HWright]

I found the website on Brazilian music (link provided by Fent99) especially useful for helping me find out about currently CD reissues of Gilberto's first three Odeon albums. Alas, it seems that is really not possible to get them on CD without paying a lot of money since the Brazilian, US, French and Spanish editions are all currently out of print. Such a shame...

By the way, here is one of the links that I mentioned in my original post:

http://www.jobim.com.br/cgi-bin/clubedotom...g.html&ling=eng

Edited May 3, 2005 by HWright

[Jim R]

Yes, "Clube do Tom" is a nice site indeed. Let us know if there's anything else that you're specifically looking for or interested in.

Oh, and check this out as well:

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=64

[HWright]

Thanks Jim. Now I'm caught up!

Henry.

[Alexander]

I've been thinking about "Elis and Tom." Is that one worth checking out?

[jazzbo]

HELL YEAH

[Jim R]

What Aric said.

A classic!

[fent99]

Just bought this and though I'm not crazy about the MPB easy listening sound this is excellent and has the best version of Waters of March I've heard (and better than Joao Gilbertos version on his self titled white album is good indeed since its my absolute fave brazillian album!)

There's a bit where Elis nearly laughs that is just sooooo infectious and joyous I love waiting for it.

[Jim R]

I agree about Elis' infectious laugh-stifling at the end of "Aguas de Março". Gets me every time. There are some who think it's contrived, but I don't buy that. I've seen her do the same thing on a performance that's on video... there's either something about the lyrics there (or just the back-and-forth vocalizing in Jobim's arrangement) that simply cracks her up. Oh, and Jobim was probably making faces at her in the studio, as he did on the video I've seen.

Have you heard any of the versions by Jobim's larger group ("Banda Nova") of the late '80's? It was included on "Inedito" (1987); "Rio Revisited" (1989); and "Familia Jobim" (1989, with Danilo Caymmi on vocal and flute, and Gilson Peranzetta on piano). With the flute of Danilo Caymmi, the cello of Jaques Morelenbaum, and the quintet of female voices in addition to Jobim and the rhythm section, it makes for a nice full, colorful arrangement, based on the 1972 version on Verve (w/ Claus Ogerman).

[jazzbo]

I love that Banda Nova material, and yes, I love the amusement in Elis' voice. She was such a talent! I need to get more of her material.

And I really like our new poster Elis as well and her lovely avatars!

[brownie]

There's a bunch of reissues of Brazilian albums from the sixties that are being imported over here!

Some of them are shown on this site:

http://www.cafemusic.com.br/cafe_links.cfm...=Dubas+M%FAsica

Click on Catalogo!

Edited May 6, 2005 by brownie

[jazzbo]

Thanks for the link!

[medjuck]

Whre does the Bud Shank/Laurendo Almeda (sp?) Brasiliance Lp fit into all this? I'm pretty sure it precedes Jazz Samba.

[Jim R]

Whre does the Bud Shank/Laurendo Almeda (sp?) Brasiliance Lp fit into all this? I'm pretty sure it precedes Jazz Samba.

It pre-dates Bossa Nova. Here's an excerpt from McGowan and Pessanha's book, "The Brazilian Sound":

Almeida and Shank's "jazz-samba" was not bossa nova, as some have claimed; it lacked the characteristic João Gilberto beat, the harmonic stamp of Jobim, and the economy of expression achieved by bossa. Quite simply, it had a different mood and sound. ... [Almeida and Shank] continued their jazz-samba collaborations with "Holiday in Brazil" and "Latin Contrasts." On other albums, Almeida linked a variety of Brazilian musical genres to jazz and classical forms. For example, he explored modinha, choro, maracatu and boi-bumbá in "Duets with the Spanish Guitar" in 1957...

Though Almeida was several thousand miles away from the burgeoning bossa nova movement in Rio in the last 1950s, he adapted that to his own style when it was carried to American shores by Getz, Gilberto, Byrd, Jobim and others.

I heard Joao Gilberto before I ever heard the Shank/Almeida material, and I must say, the latter never really appealed to me much (nor has Charlie Byrd, as I've listened to him more in the years following my exposure to Joao). I still enjoy Getz's work in the brazilian realm (although some purists have said that even Stan didn't always "get it" in terms of rhythms), but the work of some of his rhythm section sidemen makes some of those recordings far less enjoyable than they used to be, before I began exploring more authentic brazilian music (and I'm being polite ).

[marcoliv]

Passarim is another great disc from Tom & Banda Nova

Marcus

[Fer Urbina]

fent, I remember seeing TWO Spanish Blue Notes of Gilberto; it appears they split them into two cds. . . .

But I haven't seen either available in a long time.

The EMI CD (3LPs, 36 tracks, near the 80-minute mark) was indeed split in two for the "blue cover" edition by Time/Life in Spain.

One of those records that should be always in stock.

F U

PS (edit): 38 tracks, actually. In the "blue cover" edition, CD2 is much louder than CD1 (dunno why)

1 Chega de Saudade DeMoraes, Jobim 2:00

2 Desafinado Jobim, Mendonca 2:00

3 One Note Samba Hendricks, Jobim, Mendonca 2:35

4 O Pato Silva, Teixeira 1:59

5 Bolinha de Papel Pereira 1:16

6 O Amor Em Paz DeMoraes, Jobim 2:25

7 Trêvo de 4 Folhas Dixon, Woods 1:22

8 O Barquinho Boscoli, Menescal 2:30

9 Lobo Bobo Bôscoli, Lyra 1:20

10 Bim Bom Gilberto 1:12

11 Hô-Bá-Lá-Lá Gilberto 2:14

12 Aos Pés da Cryz DaZilda, Pinto 11:31

13 É Luxo Só Barroso, Peixoto 1:55

14 Outra Vez Jobim 1:49

15 Coisa Mais Linda DeMoraes, Lyra 2:51

16 Este Seu Olhar Jobim 2:15

17 Trenzinho (Trem de Ferro) Maia 1:47

18 Brigas, Nunca Mais DeMoraes, Jobim 2:05

19 Saudade Fez Um Samba Bôscoli, Lyra 1:50

20 Amor Certinho Guimaraes 1:50

21 Insensatez DeMoraes, Jobim 2:25

22 Rosa Morena Caymmi 2:02

23 Morena Boca de Ouro Barroso 1:55

24 Maria Ninguem Lyra 2:20

25 A Primeira Vez Bide, Marcal 1:52

26 Presente de Natal Noronha 1:52

27 Samba de Minha Terra Caymmi 2:19

28 Saudade da Bahia Caymmi 2:15

29 Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars) Jobim 1:57

30 Só Em Teus Braços Jobim 1:45

31 Meditation (Meditação) Gimbel, Jobim, Mendonca 1:43

32 Você E Eu DeMoraes, Lyra 2:30

33 Doralice Almeida, Caymmi 1:25

34 Discussão Jobim, Mendonca 1:48

35 Se É Tarde Me Perdoa Bôscoli, Lyra 1:44

36 Un Abraço No Bonfá Gilberto 1:35

37 Manha de Carnaval Bonfa, Maria 2:31

38 Medley: O Nosso Amor/A Felicidade DeMoraes, Jobim 3:07

Edited May 10, 2005 by Fer Urbina