One afternoon in July 1958, Brazilian guitarist and singer João Gilberto entered a studio and quickly recorded “Chega de Saudade,” an early composition by Vinicius de Moraes and Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Astrud Gilberto, who was just 22 years old when her lovely, laid-back and sultry vocals on the jazzy bossa nova “The Girl from Ipanema” made the song a massive global hit and one of the most ...

I really like certain types of jazz and classical music, although I don't know a whole lot about jazz, and even less about classical. With classical, I know what I like when I hear it, but I cannot ...

It’s as fresh as a summer breeze rolling in gently off the waves, as young as the sun-worshipers crowding the white-hot beaches of Rio. Yet bossa nova — the serenely seductive music that Brazil gave ...

In the late 1950s on the beaches of Rio, an eclectic group of musicians came together to create the distinctive and sensual music known as Bossa Nova. Classic tracks include 'The Girl from Ipanema', ...

Few modern singers have changed the world of music as much as Joao Gilberto. In 1950s Brazil, his quiet phrasing drew on the sophistication of jazz and gave voice to the songs of emerging composer ...

This terrific recording by Eliane Elias salutes the 50th anniversary of bossa nova in a number of explicit ways. For one thing, it contains the three most famous tunes by its most famous composer, ...

It’s a cold Monday morning in Rio de Janeiro and the Cinelandia region. The city centre is buzzing with people rushing to work blissfully unaware of the imposing Municipal Theatre, which, this morning ...

Blame it on the Beatles. That’s how Brazilian-born musician and composer Orlando Haddad, 61, explains his leap from Beethoven to rock. “I studied classical piano from the age of eight,” says Haddad, a ...

Chefs, decorators and musicians know the quickest way to perk up the senses is to fuse cultures. Even better is to mix styles that seem to have nothing to do with each other. Several years ago, the ...

The Brazilian trio, which won a Grammy in 2002, is known for mixing new and classic bossa nova tunes with electronica. Critic Milo Miles says The Best of Bossacucanova has a "captivating flow." This ...