Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd - Jazz Samba (1962)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 1997 Verve Master Edition.

I wasn't around in 1962, but from what I read, it appears this thing was unexpectedly huge. Guitarist/arranger Charlie Byrd had fallen in love with the bossa nova sounds coming out of Brazil in the late '50s, most notably Chega de Saudade by João Gilberto and Antônio Carlos Jobim's soundtrack to the 1959 film Black Orpheus. Byrd brought in Stan Getz to record these songs on Tuesday, February 13, 1962 in Pierce Hall at the All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, D.C. Two hours later, the album was finished and the bossa nova craze would hit the U.S. The term 'bossa nova' was simply created to described the merging of the traditional Brazilian samba with jazz music. So, the title Jazz Samba is synonymous with term bossa nova. Not bad for a day's work. This album became the only jazz album to ever hit #1 on the Billboard 200 and Getz would then record four more bossa albums in 13 months, including Getz/Gilberto.

The instrumentation includes two percussionists and, on some tracks, two bass players, both taken from the Brazilian samba tradition. The lead track and lead single, Desafinado, won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, eventually losing to Tony Bennett's I Left My Heart In San Francisco. The album itself was nominated for Album of the Year, bowing to the comedy album The First Family. In 2010, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Not a bad place to start a journey into bossa nova (but I'd say the same about Getz/Gilberto). As for my journey, I've just checked out the following book from the local library: Bossa Nova: The Story of the Brazilian Music That Seduced the World by Ruy Castro.

Speaking of books...for its inclusion in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Andrew Gilbert wrote, "the album is a perfect melding of swing and samba, with Getz's velvet tenor flowing semlessly from one track to another."

Original liner notes by Dom Cerulli.

Reviews/ratings:

• Downbeat (★★★★½ ): "beautifully turned little gems played by a pair of brilliant jazz musicians who seem very much in rapport."
• Stereo Review: "a surprisingly varied listening experience."
• High Fidelity: "The playing is unpretentious and thoroughly delightful."
• Billboard: "Another beautiful set"
• CashBox: "The wax marriage of these two jazz names, should in itself bring out a host of fans."
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★½

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #1
• CashBox (Stereo): #1

Tracks: The two singles from this album, Desafinado (#15 pop, #4 easy listening) and Samba de Uma Nota Só (did not chart) were written by Jobim. While I prefer the latter to the former, all the the tracks are great and with a running time of under 35 minutes, there's no reason to play the whole thing through (maybe twice).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Verve Jazz Masters 53: Bossa Nova (1996)
Getz/Gilberto (1964)