Charlie Byrd Latin Byrd

In the United States, Brazilian trombonist Raul De Souza is best known for his Capitol releases of the late '70s. But his first session as a leader actually came in 1964, when he recorded À Vontade Mesmo for the Brazilian market. The LP wasn't released in the U.S., and it wasn't until the '70s that De Souza provided any American releases. These 1964 performances are excellent. When De Souza (who is listed as Raulzinho) recorded this album, the bossa nova explosion was in full swing - and plenty of musicians (both Brazilian and American) were trying to cash in on bossa nova's popularity. But while À Vontade Mesmo is instrumental Brazilian jazz, the album isn't bossa nova - certainly not in the Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd sense. Bossa nova was a fusion of cool jazz and samba; À Vontade Mesmo, however, has more of a hard bop/samba outlook…

This 1962 set by Cal Tjader, recorded at the beginning of the bossa nova craze in the United States (released in the same year and on the same label as the smash Jazz Samba by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd), has one of the most boring titles imaginable, and it doesn't begin to describe the laid-back yet magical innovations in the grooves. Produced by Creed Taylor, the date was arranged and orchestrated by the great pianist Clare Fischer (who also wrote the liner notes). Tjader set out to offer a very modern portrait of the music pouring out of Mexico City by showcasing selected Mario Ruíz Armengol compositions, and out of Brazil by spotlighting numbers by singers such as Elisete Cardoso and João Gilberto. Tjader's vibes are placed in juxtaposition with Fischer's piano and percussion by Changuito, Milt Holland, and Johnny Rae, with a woodwind section that included both Don Shelton and Paul Horn…

Caetano Rodrigues and Charles Gavin book has an amazing section with records from non-Brazilian artists performing Bossa Nova. Particularly, Charlie Byrd LPs are fantastic with those covers with parrots and macaws with some Brazilian spots on background. Among the several gems available there, Caetano selected a special one, Clare Fischer - Clare Fischer Plays Antonio Carlos Jobim and Clare Fischer, So Danco Samba (1965), for World Pacific with Clare Fischer (piano, organ), Dennis Budimir (guitar), Bob West (bass) and Colin Bailey (drums). "This America pianist really tried to decipher the refined language of Bossa Nova. He was not one of the pioneers of the new style as great names of the international jazz scene had already tackled it. However, Fischer's merit lay in his choice of repertoire, almost entirely based on the songs by Tom Jobim, bringing elements of jazz into the traditional Brazilian flavor…

One of the all-time great tenor saxophonists, Stan Getz was known as "The Sound" because he had one of the most beautiful tones ever heard. Getz, whose main early influence was Lester Young, grew to be a major influence himself and to his credit he never stopped evolving. Getz had the opportunity to play in a variety of major swing big bands while a teenager due to the World War II draft. He was with Jack Teagarden (1943) when he was just 16, followed by stints with Stan Kenton (1944-1945), Jimmy Dorsey (1945), and Benny Goodman (1945-1946)