Bossanova is not something I listened to as a teenager growing up in the 80s. The only Bossanova I knew was the cheesy swing-like sound on my mini Casio keyboard, and a cocktail-hour band butchering some old standard or other. I was completely unaware of how much the rich Brazilian sound of Bossanova has influenced both jazz and popular music in the United States since the '60s.

Thankfully, I've since become enlightened, largely in part due to contemporary DJ/Producers Thievery Corporation, Kruder & Dorfmeister, and Schema, the Italian record label, all of whom have recordings rich with Bossanova influences. And its through these recordings, my appreciation of this music has grown tremendously.

This appreciation and curiosity led to my discovery of what is perhaps the quintessential Bossanova album, the 1963 recording titled Getz/Gilberto, Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, and featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim (remastered & reissued by Verve in 1997). The artists on this recording ARE the pioneers of Bossanova.

Influenced by samba, jazz, and Euro-impressionism, Jobim & Gilberto, along with poet/lyricist Vinicuis de Moraes created Bossanova, or "new thing", in Brazil in the late '50s. When Getz got wind of this new sound, he fell in love with it instantly.

In 1962, Getz recorded the album Jazz Samba with Jobim & guitarist Charlie Byrd. It was a giant crossover hit - it reached no.1 on the pop album charts, something that has not been duplicated even to this day by another jazz album. A curious fact of the time was that the Bossanova sound was considered to be near its end in America. Getz/Gilberto was recorded soon thereafter, and included as its first track the classic "The Girl From Impanema", featuring Astrud Gilberto (Joao's wife) on vocals. The story is that neither Joao nor Jobim wanted her to sing on the album (she was not a professional), but Getz insisted. The result is probably the most famous bossa tune in the world, enjoying almost universal appeal ever since. Both Joao's & Astrud's vocals are smooth & sexy and Getz' tenor sax is sublime.

Other standout tracks are "Desafinado", where Gilberto's vocals are showcased at its finest, "Corcovado", which also features Astrud, and became an instant standard, and "So Danco Samba", the most groovin' track on the album. Jobim's piano, Joao's guitar, Tommy William's bass, and Milton Banana's drumming seem effortless, and yet keep you swinging throughout. The whole album is a tour-de-force, and is perhaps one the finest examples in artistic merit matching commercial success in popular music.

After listening to this album, I was not surprised to find out it spent almost two years on the pop charts and won several Grammys. In the liner notes, Getz, concerning the making of music, quotes the famed violist & violinist Paul Hindemith: "The ear should remain the first and last court of appeal."

If this is true, then I charge GETZ/GILBERTO with being one of the coolest, smoothest, most original, and swinging albums I have ever heard.