Bossa Nova Recommendations

Whistle
1

Someone (tuaz maybe?) mentioned that they play whistle to bossa nova tunes. I’ve always liked bossa stuff when I heard it, but I don’t really know anything about artists in this genre.

Anybody have “intro to bossa nova” CD recommendations for a complete newbie?

2

Although I’ve never tried whistling to it, I recommend Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Finest Hour, on Verve. Verve put out a series of “greatest hits” albums for jazz artists, and this is an amazing sixty minutes of bossa nova.

3

The sound track to Black Orpheus! Nothing else comes close!

4

Hello! Sadly, not too many classics are done in bossa nova and you can get all the famous songs in about 2-3 discs. Do try out:

  1. Nova Bossa: Red Hot on Verve
  2. Selection of Joao & Astrud Gilberto (2CD)

The above includes all the famous songs like “Girl from Ipanema”, “Desfinado”, “One Note Samba” etc. If you don’t like to get compilations, any of the Verve CDs with Stan Getz, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, or Joao Gilberto will very likely give you very good bossa classics.

If you want the newer Bossa recordings, which you will most likely look into if you’re bossa-crazy and are done with the classics, I recommend:

  1. BossaNova 1999 by Ramon Leal & Beatrice Binotti
  2. Brazillian Romance by Various artists under Jazz Moods
  3. Lisa Ekdahl sings Salvadore Poe
  4. Mind Games plays the Music of Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, feat Lisa Wahlandt & Mulo Francel

Hope you enjoy the stuff!

[ This Message was edited by: Eldarion on 2001-11-15 21:09 ]

5

…If you don’t like to get compilations, any of the Verve CDs with Stan Getz, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, or Joao Gilberto will very likely give you very good bossa classics…

That’s what I have: 2 or 3 of the Getz/Jobim albums, so that I would have most if not all of the key classics, as Eldarion puts it. I play along to these classics only for fun, at home (so it could be atrocious playing, but I don’t care). Other than that, some worship songs in church are played with a mild bossa beat/style, and I might sometimes improv or play fills over that with a whistle.

6

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

Some of those compilations sound like exactly what I had in mind. When approaching an unfamiliar style/genre of music, its always nice to have some idea of what the classic or “great” pieces in that style are considered to be. Kinda helps get your ears “oriented” to the style.

Richard

7

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

Some of those compilations sound like exactly what I had in mind. When approaching an unfamiliar style/genre of music, its always nice to have some idea of what the classic or “great” pieces in that style are considered to be. Kinda helps get your ears “oriented” to the style.

Richard