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Celebrate Bossa Nova, a new series from Blue Note


Big Al

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Maybe I missed an earlier thread, but these titles just appeared at BMG:

Luiz Bonfa - Violão e o Samba

Elizeth Cardoso & Ciro Monteiro - A Bossa Eterna de Elizeth e Ciro

Eumir Deodato - Idéia

João Donato - Chá Dancante

Quarteto Novo - Quarteto Novo

Walter Wanderley - Samba no Esquema de Walter Wanderley

Anyone know anything about these? The only info provided is the usual long-winded AMG Thom Jurek babble.

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and another series, though not from EMI, but if we're talking recent reissues of Brasilian music - these are from 2004 and some are OOP it seems:

Elenco Brazil-Serie

Contrastes (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Odette Lara

Bossa Balanco Balada (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Sylvia Telles

Nara (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Nara Leao

A Bossa Nova de Roberto Menescal (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Roberto Menescal

Samba E Aracy de Almeida (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Aracy de Almeida

Sidney Miller (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Sidney Miller

Surfboard (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Roberto Menescal

Balancamba (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Lucio Alves

Bossa Nova York (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Sergio Mendes Trio (with Art Farmer!)

Um Senhor Talento (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Sergio Ricardo

De Vinicius e Baden Especialmente Para Ciro Monteiro (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Ciro Monteiro

Caymmi Visita Tom (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Dorival Caymmi / Antonio Carlos Jobim

Maysa (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Maysa

Antonio Carlos Jobim (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Antonio Carlos Jobim

Reencontro (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Sylvia Telles / Edu Lobo / Tamba Trio / Quinteto Villa Lobos

Edu e Bethania (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Edu Lobo / Maria Bethania

Vinicius/Caymmi No Zum Zum (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Vinicius de Moraes / Dorival Caymmi / Oscar Castro-Neves / Quartetto Em Cy

Cantiga de Longe (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Edu Lobo

Vinicius & Odette Lara (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Vinicius de Moraes / Odette Lara

The Astrud Gilberto Album - With Antonio Carlos Jobim (Elenco Brazil-Serie) von Astrud Gilberto

sorry - I was in fast reply and hit "enter" once too often, hence the edit...

seems several of these are gone for good, I don't have a single one, alas... which ones would be essential?

Edited by king ubu
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Well, a quick Google search yielded a link to a review on this page:

A Celebration Of 50 Years Of Bossa Nova: 13 album reissues

A Celebration Of 50 Years Of Bossa Nova... What we have here are 13 album reissues from the important Odeon/EMI catalogue. All available on CD for the first time.

Among the many is the beautiful Moraes/Jobim/Paiva epic Orfeu Da Conceicao (which is based on the Greek myths of Orpheus). This is supposedly the album that started it all. We have the (Joao) Donato Cha Dancante, which is an acquired taste with the Frevo-style accordion present throughout.

Next is the album A Bossa Eterna by Elizabeth E Cyro. It's an unusual title considering that there is really only one Bossa on it (the rest are all out-and-out Sambas) of which the same can also be said of the firebrand Elza Soares' Pede Passagem. Soares is the Queen Of Samba - she is to Brazil what the late Celia Cruz is to Afro Cuban music and here that is exactly what she sings - sambas. There isn't a Bossa in sight. Once again this is the case of Eumir (Deodato) Ideias too. A beautifully orchestrated album nevertheless. The Doris, Miltinho E Charme is simply gorgeous as is the classic Luiz Bonfa O Violao E O Samba.

Pery Ribiero And Bossa 3 Encontro is mainly all ballads; a surprise considering how heavy-duty the Bossa 3's own albums are. Nice though. The classic Marcos Valle Samba Demais is a classic for a reason and this soulful and laid back album is his trademark. Again though, not a Bossa in sight. Organist Walter Wanderley's Samba No Esquema hasn't aged very well I'm afraid. I personally love it but there will be those that will call it (the derogatory term) 'lounge' etc. It still sounds nice and chunky though. There is the superb live concert by Pery Ribeiro, Leny Andrade and Bossa 3 called Gemini V. It's very exciting and well recorded. A good purchase I would say (but again, no Bossa!).

Saving my two favourites to the end: Firstly we have the debut album by the Milton Banana Trio. A faultless album by this classic drummer, and very heavy indeed. This is absolutely littered with classics. Everything about this recording is top-notch. Lastly, the debut album by the barrier-breaking Quarteto Novo. Among the line-up is drummer/percussionist Airto Moreira on his second ever recording and Hermeto Pascaol - one of the most important Brasilian musicians in the country's history. This album is musical perfection from beginning to end, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. I know this is rare too because I was offered £300 pounds for my copy twenty years ago!

OK, the bad news - firstly, the packaging is absolutely awful. You know if you buy a mid-price CD and it has that triangular sticker on it saying 'mid-price'? These have the same size triangle on with 'Celebrate Bossa Nova 50 Years' on it but actually printed on the bloody sleeve so you can't peel it off. It is very ugly and clumsy and ruins these beautiful sleeves (of which the artwork is just as unique as you would find on the classic sleeves of the Blue Note or Prestige labels); secondly: we could have done with some indepth sleeve-notes telling us WHY these albums are important and what musicians are on it, and thirdly: Most of these albums are not even Bossa Nova! I don't know who selected these albums for reissue (apparently 'experts') but there was so many more that should have got a reissue in front of half of these. Sorry, it's all been clumsily done and a missed opportunity. Still, at least some of these amazing albums are on CD at last.

Edited by Big Al
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These aren't exaclty from Blue Note... Odeon reissues all, I think?

I caught an earful of the Wanderley in a store recently, left it behind though it was cheap...

EMI Brasil. The Odeon catalog belongs to them.

As for the title "A Bossa Eterna," the word "bossa" has had multiple meanings in the vernacular. The word itself was already around when bossa nova came along. (Will have to see if one of my Brazilian friends can help a bit with background on this one.)

Edited by seeline
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I asked a Brazilian friend about this earlier today. the reply:

Aptitude, talent, also charm, "it," "a certain something"

in other words: "each one she passes goes aaahhhh ... " ^_^

regarding the elenco reissues (see the post by king ubu) ... i have about 7 of these albums ... my favs from this lot are the maysa (s/t) and the nara leao (nara), especially the nara album ... the maysa album also gets the prize for best cover art :wub:

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I asked a Brazilian friend about this earlier today. the reply:

Aptitude, talent, also charm, "it," "a certain something"

in other words: "each one she passes goes aaahhhh ... " ^_^

Hard to say, since the original lyrics don't have a line like that. ;) She's described as being graceful (etc.), but ...well. As with many other songs, the English lyrics are an approximation, not a even close to a word-for-word translation.

Edited by seeline
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Meanings of the word "bossa"

I asked a Brazilian friend about this earlier today. the reply:

Aptitude, talent, also charm, "it," "a certain something"

It definitely is a relatively "old" term, but they're not sure just how old. (Obviously predates "bossa nova," though!)

Sorry for quoting myself, but....

I got the info. because of discussion on page 1 of this thread. (Confusion over an album title.)

Edited by seeline
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