For The Sound of Summer, Nothing Beats the Bossa Nova

Each week in our Saturday Supplement we re-post an entry of interest to both residents of the Washington area and visitors to DC that first appeared in another publication's web site.

Recording of the Jazz Samba album at All Souls Unitarian Church.
(Felix Grant Archives at UDC/Felix Grant Archives at UDC)

Nothing captures the sound, the mood or the languor of summer quite like the bossa nova. Invented along the beaches of Rio de Janeiro in the 1950s, the quietly swaying Brazilian music became a worldwide phenomenon a decade later and has never gone away.

Everyone knows that the flair and sensibility of the music come from Brazil. What is not so well understood is that the bossa nova craze was launched here in Washington.

On Feb. 13, 1962, a day that dawned with a temperature of 16 degrees, six musicians convened at a Washington church and, much to their surprise, created an album that has endured as the eternal soundtrack of summer.

“Jazz Samba” was released under the names of Washington guitarist Charlie Byrd and the album’s featured soloist, saxophonist Stan Getz, who flew down from New York for the day.

It was a casual undertaking, and no one had any inkling that it would become something extraordinary. 

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in The Washington Post, click here.