Brazilian fans are enjoying the song “Chico”, which Luisa Sonza released at the beginning of the month on the album “Escândalo intimate” in honor of her boyfriend, influencer Chico Moedas, and the ballad reached 1st place on Spotify’s Top 50 Brazil. Soon fans asked themselves “what is the style of music?”. And the person who responded, and debated, was Caetano Veloso when he said that it is Bossa Nova. In a video on Twitter, the musician is filmed by Paula Lavigne, his wife, who asks him the question: “What do I tell Luiza about her music?”
“The rhythm guitar is playing Bossa Nova, it seems to me. But MPB is Brazilian popular music… It kind of covers everything. They are very different things. It depends more on who does it and where people see that artist”, said the Bahian.
But, after all, does generation Z, the one born between 1990 and 2010, know what Bossa Nova is?
The genuinely Brazilian style was born from the trinity of musicians formed by Joao Gilberto (1931-2019), Tone Jobim (1927-1994) and Vinícius de Moraes (1913-1980).
Tom and Vinícius created “Garota de Ipanema” in 1964, sitting in a bar on Rua Montenegro, in Ipanema, south of Rio de Janeiro, inspired by the beauty of Helô Pinheiro who was passing through the street to go to the beach.
Recorded in 1964 on the album “Getz/Gilberto” in the voice of João and Astrud Gilberto, who sings in English, in partnership with the North American saxophonist Stan Getz (1917 -1991), “Garota de Ipanema” won the world and even Today it is the most recorded Brazilian song of all time. And it continues to inspire. Last year the funk singer Anita released “Girl From Rio”, from the album Versions of Me, with direct influence of music.
João Gilberto previously also recorded the album considered a cornerstone of Bossa Nova. “Chega de Saudade”, released in 1958, turned 65 years old in June this year and the album is considered a milestone that changed music forever.
His guitar, back in the 1950s, defined the direction of Brazilian music. Without your beat there would be no after Caetano Veloso , Clara Nunes , Gilberto Gil , Maria Bethânia , Chico Buarque , Gal Costa , Milton Birth , Elis Regina – and Brazilian Popular Music, the MPB .
“MPB came from Bossa Nova, at the time of Tropicalismo, possibly nothing would exist without it. Chico Buarque and Caetano Veloso, for example, say that they only became musicians because of Bossa Nova”, recalled the musician, arranger and researcher, Flávio Mendes, who has a project dedicated to the style, Bossacucanova.
Paths of Bossa Nova
Mendes explains that the musical genre emerged from the combination of jazz and samba and brought to the time a set of chords, melody, lyrics and rhythm, which João Gilberto personified with his guitar.
“João Gilberto came up with the rhythm, Vinícius came up with the lyrics and Tom Jobim came up with the melody and chords”, said the specialist.
The master in ethnomusicology and executive director of the Brazilian Institute of Music and Education (IBME) Moana Martins, says that the rhythm sounds “as if the beat [do coração] off the wrist and that is what gives the taste of the delicious gingado and the Brazilian accent presented in the songs”.
When we talk about singing, the interpretations explored the joy and melancholy of the time, a characteristic of the Rio middle class at the time, according to Mendes, with simplicity, without much vibrato and melismas, as we hear in country songs for example.
“It started to be an everyday language and this caught on with young people who went to the beaches every day. At the time, the songs were more nocturnal, focused on ballads. They were modern to a certain extent, but they lacked a trigger”, explains Flávio about the rhythm.
“The essence of Bossa Nova is: less is more: few and precise notes that accompany the harmony and vice versa, the melody sung by this voice is often the guide to brilliant harmony”, adds Moana.
Flávio reinforces that any artist can transit or create inspired by Bossa Nova and other styles.
For him, Brazilian music “transforms and gains a survival”.
Nara’s followers
Nara Leão (1942-1989) was one of the female voices that most symbolized Bossa Nova with a low, smooth voice.
Today, other female artists follow in her footsteps and have their music available on major streaming platforms such as AnaLu Sampaio , Veronica Ferriani , Liniker , Bullet Desire , Alice Caymmi – and even Billie Eilish with the song “Billie Bossa Nova”, from the album “Happier Than Ever”, can be a good start to discover and generate interest in the genre in the new generation.
“Bossa Nova is Brazilian cultural identity and the path to this knowledge is experience. So that generation Y and Z also learn more about Bossa Nova and MPB artists, as well as other elements of Brazilian culture, the path of education is the path, through political actions of cultural democratization in schools, in social music projects and education, the incentive policies of the culture and education departments”, explains Moana.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
