Alongside Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Bonfa (the co-composer of Black Orpheus) is one of the original trailblazers of the bossa nova sound. Released in 1963 on Verve, Plays And Sings Bossa Nova can safely be certified a classic of the genre. Elegant, lyrical, rhythmic, and a showcase for Bonfa’s deft guitar technique and sweet, unassuming singing, Plays And Sings is an album that will sound good to almost anyone, at any time.
With his thick, engaging sound and elegant romanticism, it only made sense for Ike Quebec to try his hand at the bossa nova boom Stan Getz kick-started in 1962, and that's what he did with Soul Samba. However, Quebec makes the session much more than mere bandwagon-jumping. He takes some chances with the repertoire and consciously adds a heavy blues inflection that makes Soul Samba one of the more unique interpretations of the bossa nova style. It's also one of the more sensuous, thanks in part to the combination of Quebec's natural tendencies and the soft, light style itself, but even more so with the extra bit of meat added via the blues. The music is warm and danceable, yet with a late-evening hush that's more suggestive of winding down and getting cozy with someone…
The Story of Bossa Nova features 20 remastered original recordings from the late '50s/early '60s combined with a few modern interpretations of the genre, including 14 tracks written by composer Antonio Carlos Jobim. Taken from the vast EMI-Odeon archive of classic Brazilian music, this introductory set includes Marcos Valle's "Samba De Verao," Sylvia Telles' "Dindi," and the pre-Astrud Gilberto version of "Girl From Ipanema" by Pery Ribeiro.