Brazilian jazz

Brazilian Jazz can refer to both a genre, largely influenced by Bossa nova, that exists in many nations and the jazz music of Brazil itself.

Música Instrumental Brasileira

The term "Música Instrumental Brasileira", which literally means "Brazilian Instrumental Music", is used in Brazil as a generalized term to refer to jazz as well as several instrumental forms of "art music" and the like. The term's fluidity or ambiguity allows for the fact that Brazilian jazz musicians themselves do not always have much in common with each other and might be willing to play in several genres. Terms for subgenres such as brazuca, ecm, and fusion are more specific to jazz. In Brazil they make note of distinctiveness between their jazzier or jazz instrumentals from that of Latin jazz. The influences of earlier Brazilian music like samba and choro are highlighted or, possibly, even exaggerated. The efforts to highlight specifically my earlier influences may relate to nationalistic and class tension on the history of the music. Jazz or Jazzy music has at times been controversial for being seen as representing a foreign "contamination" of native forms like choro. On the other hand Bossa, a jazz influenced form of Brazilian music, came largely among the upper-class and sometimes faced criticism for being "bourgeois."

Stan Getz

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Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott Yanow as "one of the all-time great tenor saxophonists". Getz went on to perform in bebop, cool jazz and third stream, but is perhaps best known for popularizing bossa nova, as in the worldwide hit single "The Girl from Ipanema" (1964).

Early life

Getz was a born on February 2, 1927, at St. Vincent's Hospital in Philadelphia. His grandparents Harris and Beckie Gayetsky were from the Kiev area of the Ukraine but migrated to London, England and owned the Harris Tailor Shop at 52 Oxford Street for more than 13 years. In 1913, Harris and Beckie emigrated to the United States with their three sons Al, Phil and Ben after the loss of one son in 1912. (Getz's father Al was born in Mile End, Old Town, London, England in 1904 and his mother Goldie in Philadelphia in 1907.)

João Gilberto

João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira, known as João Gilberto (Portuguese: [ˈʒwɐ̃w ʒiwˈbɛʁtu]; June 10, 1931), is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His seminal recordings, including many songs by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, established the new musical genre of Bossa nova in the late 1950s.

Biography

João Gilberto was born in Juazeiro, Bahia, Brazil. From an early age, music was a part of Gilberto's life. His grandfather bought him his first guitar at the age of 14. During high school, Gilberto teamed up with some of his classmates to form a small band. Gilberto, who led the band, was influenced by Brazilian popular songs, American jazz, and even some opera, among other genres. After trying his luck as a radio singer in Salvador, Bahia, the young Gilberto was recruited in 1950 as lead singer of the vocal quintet Garotos da Lua (Moon Boys) and moved to Rio de Janeiro. A year and a half later, he was dismissed from the group for his lack of discipline (he would often show up late to rehearsals or not at all).

Charlie Byrd

Charlie Lee Byrd (September 16, 1925 – December 2, 1999) was an American guitarist. His earliest and strongest musical influence was Django Reinhardt, the gypsy guitarist. Byrd was best known for his association with Brazilian music, especially bossa nova. In 1962, Byrd collaborated with Stan Getz on the album Jazz Samba, a recording which brought bossa nova into the mainstream of North American music.

Byrd played fingerstyle on a classical guitar.

Early life

Charlie Byrd was born in Suffolk, Virginia, in 1925 and grew up in the town of Chuckatuck, Virginia. His father, a mandolinist and guitarist, taught him how to play the acoustic steel guitar at age 10. Byrd had three brothers, Oscar, Jack, and Joe, who was a bass player. In 1942 Byrd entered the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and played in the school orchestra. In 1943 he was drafted into the United States Army for World War II, saw combat, then was stationed in Paris in 1945 where he played in an Army Special Services band and toured occupied Europe in the all-soldier production G.I. Carmen.

Laurindo Almeida

Laurindo Almeida (September 2, 1917 – July 26, 1995) was a Brazilian virtuoso guitarist and composer who made many recordings of enduring impact in classical, jazz and Latin genres. He is widely credited, with fellow artist Bud Shank, for creating the fusion of Latin and jazz which came to be known as the “Jazz Samba.” Almeida was the first artist to receive Grammy Awards for both classical and jazz performances. His discography encompasses more than a hundred recordings over five decades.

Background

Laurindo Jose de Araujo Almeida Nobrega Neto was born in the village of Prainha, Brazil near Santos in the state of São Paulo.

Born into a musical family, Almeida was a self-taught guitarist. During his teenage years, Almeida moved to São Paulo, where he worked as a radio artist, staff arranger and nightclub performer. At the age of 19, he worked his way to Europe playing guitar in a cruise ship orchestra. In Paris, he attended a performance at the Hot Club by Stephane Grappelli and famed guitarist Django Reinhardt, who became a lifelong artistic inspiration.