Bossa5

What  is Bossa Nova?

Bossa Nova, or 'new thing' in Brazilian slang, erupted as a pop sensation in the 60s in the US after touring American musicians in Brazil got hip to the new sound from the likes of Antonio Carlos Jobim ('Girl From Ipanema'), Luis Bonfa ('Black Orpheus') and Joao Gilberto ('Bim Bom') -- catchy pop melodies and dreamy lyrics over a streamlined version of samba's stuttering syncopation, set to a lush harmonic background of jazzy chords. It was sublimely lyrical and rhythmically irresistible 'jazz samba,' the title of a 1962 Charlie Byrd-Stan Getz album.

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Jazz tenor giant Stan Getz got hooked up with Jobim, Joao and Astrud Gilberto, and recorded the 'Girl from Ipanema,' one of the 60s iconic hits, paving the way to mega-sellers for Brazilian musicians like Sergio Mendes (Mas Que Nada) and Marcos Valle (Summer Samba). Bossa has since inspired and influenced several generations of musicians and a variety of genres.

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Bossa5 covers and puts its own contemporary twist on the great bossa hits from Baden Powell ('Berimbau'), Jorge Ben ('Pais Tropical'), Jobim, Gilberto, Gonzaguinho ('O Que É, O Que É?'), Marcos Valle and many other great composers and performers.

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The music of Brazil, almost as big in land mass as the continental U.S., is as rich and varied as music from the North America, maybe even more so -- it's much more than bossa. Bossa5 also mines some precursors to 60s bossa such as the tunes of Arry Barroso ('Brazil') and choro ('Tico Tico'), a virtuosic, up-tempo music that was Brazil's first popular music genre.