Various

This album is a definitive study of the birth and rise of bossa nova in Brazil in the 1960s. Light years away from the cocktail-sipping tropical image that bossa nova became, bossa nova’s origins in Brazil are that of a stunning modernist and revolutionary music that reflected the radical and exciting idealism of the country at the start of the 1960s. As Brazil developed into an urban society, with ‘apartment living’ and consumer goods, bossa nova projected an image that was modern, sophisticated and cool. Check!

In 1964, as bossa nova reached its pinnacle internationally with the worldwide pop success of Antonîo Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes composition ‘The Girl From Ipanema’, an idyllic vision of sophistication, sunshine and beaches, tanks were arriving on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, announcing a coup d’état and the arrival of a vicious military dictatorship that would oppress, censor and torture the country for the next 20 years.

‘Bossa Nova and the rise of Brazilian Music in the 1960s’ charts the rise of the events that led to the arrival of this new musical movement and what happened next. João Gilberto, Tom Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Elis Regina, Gilberto Gil and Baden Powell all feature alongside many other Brazilian artists who launched their careers during this amazing period.