Congo

A lovely Brazilian jazz composition in honor of Congo (Nos ancêtres les Congolais). 

Ladeira Da Praça

Descendo no samba a ladeira da praça

Descendo no samba a ladeira da praça

Pra Que Discutir Com Madame

Madame diz que o samba tem cachaça, mistura de raça mistura de cor, Madame diz que o samba democrata, é música barata sem nenhum valor, Vamos acabar com o samba, madame não gosta que ninguém sambe Vive dizendo que samba é vexame Pra que discutir com madame.

Samba da Minha Terra

 

Our ongoing obsession with Brazilian music has brought us back to Novos Baianos, a band we loved back in 2012 and 2013 but forgot about over much of the past decade. They had a a magical run of maybe 3 or 4 great albums and a perfect fusion of Brazilian styles and rock...

Manha da Carnaval

 

A recent bossa nova obsession has increased my interest in various interpretations of various classics. Kenny Dorham's "Una Mas" is a classic, but this live performance of "Manha da Carnaval" is "cooking." The band even occasionally drops the samba rhythm for a more straightforward swing, but everything comes together brilliantly.

Canto de Ossanha

Obsessed with Brazilian music this week, and loving the vocals on this track from Baden Powell's Afro-Sambas. Everything sounds better in Brazilian-accented Portuguese. 

Na Baixa do Sapateiro

A stripped down rendition of "Bahia" with just vocals and guitar. The sublime. 

Samba Jazz

A stirring samba-jazz composition from a Brazilian saxophonist and his band, this is just as addictive as Cannonball Adderley's "Jive Samba." Jazz is truly global culture...

Samba for Friday

Enjoy this beautiful samba for Friday evening. Criolo's "Fermento pra Massa" is one of the best of the contemporary Brazilian music I have listened to lately.

Borandá

Lovely, stylized jazzy samba from Edu Lobo (with help from Tamba Trio). Love that piano! Alas, if only the song wasn't so short...

Era Bom

I love Brazilian music. I particularly love Elza Soares for her scatting rendition of "Era bom" because she sounds like Louis Armstrong. Jazzy, full of horns, and that relentless samba rhythm make this song worthy of repeat listens.

Se Acaso Você Chegasse

"Se Acaso Você Chegasse," when Elza Soares was in her early prime. Although she is legendary and has remained relevant to Brazilian popular music, her early sound is what I prefer. She's jazzier, scats (hence the Louis Armstrong comparison, and the shared raspiness), features a big bang sound that recalls samba's origins in the large processions and public revelry, and her ostentatious display and style forces one to include Afro-Brazilians. Indeed, entitling one of her early albums A Bossa Negra was a startling find (to me, at least), but perhaps that was more due to how white record labels marketed her. Regardless, she's an amazing singer. Check out her version of "Marambaia" and "O Gato" for more examples. 

Os Afro-Sambas

A lovely classic. I finally listened to the entirety of the album and the light classical touches with Afro-Brazilian samba and religious references work quite well.

Bossa Nova with João

One of my favorite bossa nova albums by one of my favorite artists. This lyrical, brilliant bossa nova guitarist is a talented composer and songwriter whose gentle, soothing, sweet sounds are perfect relaxation music. The swaying rhythms, elegant and restrained playing style, and general ethos of bossa nova are just what I need after today...

Samba for Sunday

Que samba é esse que acabo de chegar?

E Partido Alto mais e para quem sabe produzar

Beautiful old samba track I encountered via a black music blog (here). Africa lives in Brazil! 

Menina Bonita Não Chora

If the world doesn't already know, I love me some early Jorge Ben samba. Jazzy, propulsive rhythms, and Ben's voice make for great music nearly every time. This particular musical gem telling a beautiful girl to not cry is an under-appreciated track from Ben's first album, one of my favorites. Though Jorge would later move beyond the jazz arrangements, I still long for more Brazilian music like this. Unlike bossa nova, this samba-jazz was more of a mixture of jazz and samba rhythms (as well as the lack of restraint and nearly cool jazz vibes of so much bossa nova). 

Jive Samba

Cannonball's brother, Nat, wrote a funky piece that lives up to it's title, "Jive Samba." As the name would suggest, it's funky, drenched in blues, and set to a samba rhythm which was such a craze in the 1960s. Also, one can see how Cannonball Adderley, like other soul jazz-oriented artists of the 1960s, aimed at African-American audiences who were turning to funk and soul instead of the jazz of their parents. Recorded concerts at clubs and various venues, from San Francisco to Chicago, show lively interaction and entrenched African-American vernacular English, as well as popular culture, gospel traditions, and a general atmosphere of fun and joviality. This is the type of relaxed, crowd-pleasing jazz, giving the people the kind of music they wanted to hear: funky, gospel-tinged, bluesy, and, at times, a crossover pop hit. Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder was a surprise hit, as well as some of the songs Cannonball recorded in the 1960s: "African Waltz" and "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," each one funky in its own way yet still jazz. "Jive Samba" encapsulates 1960s Adderley, paying tribute to jazz's roots, new trends in African-American and mainstream music (rock, funk, soul), and, at the same time, ambitious, with soulful, at times honking solos from Adderley that reach majestic heights. The simple piano vamp that builds the song, just a few chords, is nonetheless allows some freedom for the instrumentalists to stretch out, playing blues lines while also retaining the samba-like feel throughout the song and, at times, almost a gospel-like clap in the rhythms, transporting one to a funky church service with some Cuban and Brazilian flavor.

Some versions incorporate Cuban-derived melodic lines, especially Yusef Lateef's solo, which alone makes the song worthy of listen since any one who recognizes the flute melody in "Soul Bossa Nova," a hit by Quincy Jones will appreciate it. The Cuban ostinato is particularly evident during Adderley's solo on a version of the tune from a live show in 1963. Thus, this song not only remains indebted to the bossa nova craze and blues, but Latin soul, boogaloo, and Cuban mambo/son music that inspires a typical Cuban improvisational flute solo. Moreover, the song's conclusion on the emphasized piano chords builds tension perfectly before the horns lower the heat on this stew of a jam. The crowd response in live recordings also contributes to a priceless recording, which can be best heard on the version from Jazz Workshop Revisited in a San Francisco club, where audience members (or perhaps Adderley himself or other bandmates?) say, "All right" and encourage each other. Interestingly, while this fusion of bossa nova with African-American soul and R&B was taking place, some Brazilian popular artists were incorporating rock, soul and funk into their repertoire, as a quick listen to Jorge Ben, Os Mutantes, or Wilson Simonal will illustrate. What we have here is cross-Atlantic musical exchanges: jazz to samba to create bossa nova, blues and soul with jazz, and Cuban and Puerto Rican influences in the ostinato melody.

Nana

Moacir Santos wrote one hit from his Coisas album that was covered by everyone in the 1960s. The Afro-Brazilian jazz genius's "Nana" is but one instance of his splendid writing. Check out this early version here. Os Ipanemas, a samba-jazz group, also recorded a cover with lyrics in the beginning that's worth hearing. I also highly recommend Wilson Simonal's vocal version, from his bossa nova period. He's Afro-Brazilian and a great singer! And last but not least, Edison Machado recorded a decent version, too.

Here are other versions I like less, but still worth hearing
Mario Telles
Eurmir Deodato actually does a good cover.

Tributo a Martin Luther King

Afro-Brazilian samba and pop singer, Wilson Simonal, sings a tribute to Martin Luther King.

And here is a live version!

Girl From Ipanema

 "Garota de Ipanema" is one of the best known Brazilian songs. Translated as "Girl from Ipanema," this beautiful bossa nova standard became overplayed and developed into elevator music in the US. However, this product of the largely middle-class, bourgeois bossa nova phase in MPB is one of the best of the genre. Written in honor of a beautiful woman who walked pass the bar featured in the above picture, it has traveled around the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoOsRHMj88E&feature=BFa&list=PLD76BBA3AE3E00EC4
Zimbo Trio's jazzified version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LzkLZxE9Kw&feature=BFa&list=PLD76BBA3AE3E00EC4
Os Ipanemas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ealy0P7bicQ
Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto

The Supremes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZPFlR3yrtM

Os Cariocas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tji1lYNwP3k&feature=related

Amy Winehouse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHkv9BFBiyY