Amilisom The bossa nova sensation that's sweeping the nation...

The year is 1962. The Beatles have not yet released their first album, hard bop and cool jazz are in full bloom, and Antonio Carlos Jobim has been composing bossa nova in Brazil since the late 50's.

This Brazilian genre would be introduced by Stan Getz to America through this album, in which Antonio Carlos Jobim's compositions "Desafinado" and "Samba de Uma Nota So" would become hits and end up in today's sixth edition of the Real Book. This album would then make it to no. 1 on the billboard charts in 1963 and Stan Getz would win a grammy for his performance on "Desafinado". More musicians would follow in the wake of this album to write their own bossa nova music.

Although I am not completely sure of this, I believe that the latin "tresillo" rhythm used in bossa nova during this era inspired rock and roll artists to start using it to the point where it has almost become a rhythmic cliche in modern rock as well as movie scores.

Enough of the history, is it a good album? Yes.

Not only is the cool bossa mood of the album relaxing and easy to hear for mainstream ears, but Stan Getz's solos are creative and full of soul. Since his tone is so soft the cool mood of the album is never disrupted by aggressive sixteenth note licks or loud, passionate high notes, which appear from time to time. Charlie Byrd's solos are creative as well. In his solos you will hear him utilizing bluesy licks, broken chords, and chord melodies in ways that may seem to have impressionistic inspiration.

Not only is the music good, but the album artwork looks cool as well.