For most of us, bossa nova is the distinctive sound of Brazil. The music was born in the late 1950s, conceived in large part by Antonio Carlos Jobim. From early on, American jazz musicians parked themselves within the idiom, sensing an affinity between the cerebral emotional restraint of '50s cool jazz and bossa nova's sensual emotional grace.
Brazilian guitarist Toninho Horta works along that avenue on his Jobim tribute album, recording a batch of the composer's songs in the company of American jazz players and locals alike. The result is lush and orchestral, with echoes of carnival, warm lilting rhythms and the faintest suggestion in the melodies of the shade cast by all that tropical sunshine.
One of Brazil's most remarkable singers, Milton Nascimento, also honors Jobim with an album, Novas Bossas. Two of the players are members of Jobim's family and the old maestro wrote most of the songs. The sound is classic bossa nova, with the shadow at the sunny heart of calm. Nascimento's voice is sympathetic to every nuance.
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