JAZZ SAMBA

While the 1953 Bud Shank/Laurindo Almeida recordings were the precursors of the bossa nova-jazz fusion, the 1962 Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd LP included here, Jazz Samba, would start the bossa nova craze.

Producers were quick to exploit the Bossa Nova craze in the first half of the '60s. Most of the famous jazzmen recorded an album, or at least a couple of tunes in the genre, with uneven results. The genre itself, however, and its fusion with jazz, didn't die out quickly. Instead, many modern contemporary jazzmen include bossa nova songs in their repertoire, and dozens of them have become authentic "jazz" standards, as vehicles for improvisations.

This is certainly not due to the "novelty" of the rhythm, which certainly passed, but to the high quality of many of the genre's compositions. The album compiled here, now considered a true classic, continues to bring pleasure to a variety of listeners.