Laurindo Almeida

The title Three Guitars in Bossa Nova Time is misleading in that only two guitars in any instance play the material, while tenor saxophonist Bob Enevoldsen is more important to the overall sound of the music than any other performer. In the main, Herb Ellis and Laurindo Almeida take charge on most of the songs, certainly all bossa novas and light sambas, accompanied by the pianist Donn Trenner (who worked on television with Steve Allen), bassist Bob Bertaux, lesser-known percussionists Bob Neel or Chico Guerrero, the more famous Milt Holland, and guitarist Johnny Gray on three tracks in place of Almeida. All of these selections are familiar, whether as Brazilian songs or Latinized mainstream jazz, while Ellis is upfront in the mix and definitely the leader.

Altoist Bud Shank (who doubles on flute) and acoustic guitarist Laurindo Almeida first teamed up in 1954 to make a couple of albums called Brazilliance that hinted at but greatly predated bossa nova. Shank and Almeida came together 20 years later to form the L.A. Four, a quartet also including bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly Manne. Their debut recording as a unit was made at the 1974 Concord Jazz Festival, and it finds the appealing musicians blending together well on bossa nova tunes (including "Manha de Carnaval"), Almeida's classical-oriented originals, and some swing. This was a particularly inventive chamber jazz band.