One of my favorite bossa nova songs from João Gilberto's Chega de Saudade has always been a classic by Dorival Caymmi, a pardo songwriter and singer from Bahia. "Rosa Morena," our dark Rosa, is a beautiful song that Gilberto covers beautifully in the bossa nova vein. Check it out!
My favorite line, the final where Gilberto repeats it over and over:
"Que o pessoal está cansado de esperar."
Elza Soares, an Afro-Brazilian samba singer, also does a good job with "Rosa Morena." She has a great, raspy voice that she uses to scat with jazz-inspired horn accompaniment and loud, clear samba rhythms. Got to love me some Elza Soares, a bossa negra!
Here is the original by Dorival Caymmi, a beautiful rendition featuring a great vocalist and composer of the song. Features horn section and is not too different from Elza Soares, though his voice is quite distinct. Both Afro-Brazilians, Soares takes a much more jazz and scat-inspired approach to singing with a raspy voice while Caymmi has a clear, strong and deep voice that soars poetically over his poetic lyrics. His music encapsulated the world of Bahia, and particularly Salvador, a city and region of Brazil where Afro-Brazilians (pretos and pardos) have had the dominant influence on culture.
Anjos do Inferno, a Brazilian group, first recorded Caymmi's song back in 1942. Worth listening to for hearing how popular Brazilian music and samba sounded back then.
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