More than merely a variant on the traditional samba beat, the bossa nova has had a rich life since it emerged in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1950s. It was introduced to American audiences by returning jazz musicians, including guitarist Charlie Byrd, who shared some its most famous tunes with saxophonist Stan Getz. Getz's sweet, breathy tenor saxophone was its ideal American voice, and the bossa nova quickly became a popular craze, spurred by Getz's recordings with the composers Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joao Gilberto (especially Getz/Gilberto). While the phenomenon would soon run its course, leaving a mass of forgettable recordings in its wake, it persisted as part of the rhythmic vocabulary of jazz and as a potent, transforming folk form in Brazil. This compilation includes the greatest hits of Getz's various collaborations, but it also presents a significant and varied sampling of bossa's Brazilian forms, including the politically charged tropicalismo movement founded by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. --Stuart Broomer
