Bossa nova

Bossa nova is a genre of Brazilian music, which developed and was popularized in the 1950s and '60s and is today one of the best-known Brazilian music genres abroad. The phrase bossa nova means literally "new trend" (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈbɔsɐ ˈnɔvɐ]). A lyrical fusion of samba and jazz, bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially among young musicians and college students.

Etymology

In Brazil, the word "bossa" is old-fashioned slang for something that is done with particular charm, natural flair or innate ability. As early as 1932, Noel Rosa used the word in a samba:

The exact origin of the term "bossa nova" still remains uncertain. Within the artistic beach culture of the late 1950s in Rio de Janeiro, the term "bossa" was used to refer to any new "trend" or "fashionable wave". In his book Bossa Nova, Brazilian author Ruy Castro asserts that "bossa" was already in use in the 1950s by musicians as a word to characterize someone's knack for playing or singing idiosyncratically. Castro claims that the term "bossa nova" might have first been used in public for a concert given in 1958 by the Grupo Universitário Hebraico do Brasil (University Hebrew Group of Brazil). This group consisted of Sylvinha Telles, Carlinhos Lyra, Nara Leão, Luizinho Eça, Roberto Menescal, et al. In 1959, Nara Leão also participated in more than one embryonic display of bossa nova. This included the 1st Festival de Samba Session, conducted by the PUC's (Pontifícia Universidade Católica) student union. This session was then chaired by Carlos Diegues, a law student that Leão ultimately married.

Bossa nova (disambiguation)

Bossa nova is a style of music.

Bossa Nova may also refer to:

Bossa Nova (dance)

Bossa nova was a fad dance that corresponded to the bossa nova music. It was introduced in 1960 and faded out in the mid-sixties.

Bossa nova music, soft and with sophisticated vocal rhythms and improvisations, is well suited for listening but failed to become dance music despite heavy promotion as yet another dance craze of the 1960s.

The style of basic dance steps suited the music well. It was danced on soft knees that allowed for sideways sways with hip motions. It could be danced both solo and in pairs.

There were about ten various simple step sentences published.

A variant of basic 8-beat pattern was: step forward, tap, step back, step together, repeat from the opposite foot.

A variation of this pattern was a kind of slow samba walk, with "step together" above replaced by "replace".

In fact, box steps of rhumba and whisk steps of nightclub two step could be fitted with bossa-nova styling.

Embellishments included placing one arm onto one own's belly and waving another arm at waist level in the direction of the sway, possibly with finger click.

Light My Fire

"Light My Fire" is a song by the Doors, which was recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967 on their self-titled debut album. Released as an edited single in May 1967, it spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in late July, and one week on the Cash Box Top 100, nearly a year after its recording.

A year later, it re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968 following the success of Jose Feliciano's version of the song (which peaked at number 3 on the Billboard chart), peaking at number 87. The song was largely written by the band's guitarist Robby Krieger, and credited to the entire band. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in September 1967 for one million units shipped. As of December 1971 it was the band's best-selling single, with over 927,000 copies sold.

A live version was released in 1983 on their album Alive, She Cried, the first of several live albums released in subsequent decades to include the song. "Light My Fire" achieved modest success in Australia, where it peaked at number 22 on the ARIA chart. The single originally reached number 49 in the UK in 1967, but experienced belated success in that country in 1991, when a reissue peaked at number 7. The reissue occurred on the back of revived interest in the band following Oliver Stone's film biopic The Doors. The song is number 35 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was included in the Songs of the Century list. José Feliciano's cover version won a 1969 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, the same year he won another Grammy for Best New Artist.

Light My Fire (disambiguation)

"Light My Fire" is a song by The Doors.

Light My Fire may also refer to:

See also

Light My Fire (Gábor Szabó album)

Light My Fire is an album by Hungarian jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó and American record producer Bob Thiele featuring performances recorded in 1967 for the Impulse! label.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Douglas Payne awarded the album 2 stars calling it "An inane attempt to marry rock hits to the big band sound".

Track listing

Personnel