“Bossa nova has virtually nothing to do with jazz,” said Antonio Carlos Jobim, adding that João Gilberto created the genre by “playing ballads purposely out of tune” over a slowed-down samba rhythm.
Gilberto’s easy-going looseness is ideally captured on this previously unheard 1962 recording at Club 676 with the group Os Cariocas – much better than on the pristine Getz/Gilberto, recorded six months later in a Manhattan studio. This set includes four Jobim songs familiar from that million-seller, include the bossa blueprint Samba De Uma Nota Só and several versions of Só Danço Samba.
The much-maligned Garota De Ipanema becomes a cosy living-room sing-along with the Cariocas. This four-man vocal group at times approaches the pizzazz of Lamberts, Hendricks & Ross, with Severino Filho scatting in a cartoonish falsetto. They back Gilberto on half of the songs with piano, guitar, bass and gentle percussion, keeping the mood light and casual.
Besides spoken interludes and brief snippets, there are 16 songs, half of them by Jobim. The only original is Gilberto’s affectionate tribute to fellow guitarist Luiz Bonfá, who paved the way for bossa nova and also later played with Getz. The others include three songs never otherwise recorded by Gilberto.
Club 676, which opened that year, was the home of Astor Piazzolla, whose tango nuevo similarly fused jazz with Latin sounds, and where he later opened for Getz’s band. The crowd sounds are jovial but not too loud, unlike another otherwise-sublime Gilberto album, the 1985 Live In Montreux. On the downside, the introductions here drag on and the sound is lo-fi – unsurprisingly as it was recorded on a battery-powered tape deck six decades ago.
With its warm, faded sound, this feels like a rediscovered home movie of a happy childhood beach holiday. It’s one of the most endearing bossa recordings ever, making the genre’s classic albums sound sterile in comparison.
Discography
Nova Ilusão; Só Danço Samba; Nunca Mais; Zelão; Você Passou; Samba De Uma Nota Só; Tudo É Bossa; Só Danço Samba; Meditaçao; Doralice; O Amor Em Paz; Samba Da Minha Terra; Corcovado; Nunca Mais; Quero Ser Assim; Atirei O Pau No Gato; Um Abraço No Bonfá; Garota De Ipanema / Devagar Com A Louça; Só Danço Samba / Se Todos Fossem Iguais A Você (44.42)
Gilberto (g, v); Os Cariocas: Severino Filho (v, p); Badeco (v, g); Quartera (v, pc); Luiz Roberto (v, b). Club 676, Buenos Aires, 10 October 1962.
Ubatuqui/Fresh Sound UBCD 316
