The 1st bossa nova harvest of 2007

No, we will not remember 2006 as the year when bossa nova returned with a vengeance and then died. The Latin beat shows every promise of staying around and competing with the rock bands and the novelty recordings that we now hear around us. Proof is in the arrival of new bossa nova artists like Sabrina and in the release of more of the classic bossa nova recordings from the past. It is a fact that Pinoys will always be in love with pretty, romantic music and people are still buying these albums. Bossa provides this nice, relaxing mood in ample amounts and it is what has taken the place of light pop tunes dished out by acoustic acts a few years ago.

A petite 17-year-old girl named Sabrina is the newest addition to the ranks of local bossa nova artists. Like most kids these days, she started out singing the usual singing champion stuff like Celine Dion’s. But it was recently discovered that she can also sing bossa and thanks to the big demand for nice-looking girls who can go Latin these days, Sabrina got the opportunity to record her first album. Entitled Sabrina Bossa Nova, it has none of the usual bossa nova songs. Instead it contains pop favorites from the past arranged the bossa nova way.

Judging from the way the album turned out, I do not think anymore there is no song out there that cannot stand the Latin treatment in the hands of a competent arranger. The songs, particularly the Bacharach compositions easily got into the bossa beat. As for Sabrina, she still has to approximate Sitti’s Latin fire or Raffi’s simmering sensuality but the girl is young, she sings well and will surely mature into the sexy requirements of Latin music one of these days.

Included are Pretty World, There’s Always Something There to Remind Me, Bizarre Love Triangle, Fixing a Broken Heart, Who Broke Your Heart, You’ll Never Get to Heaven, Night Bird, I’d Really Love to See You Tonight, Going Out of My Head, I Only Wanna Be with You, I Say a Little Prayer and I Love You More Today Than Yesterday.

Still on the bossa nova. Here is another addition to Universal’s The Chillout Sound of Bossa Nova series of albums. You probably already have the Astrud Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim CDs that were released earlier. Entitled Coffee & Bossa, this new one has two discs which contain 40 cuts performed by various artists. The names usually associated with bossa nova are present. From Astrud, there are Call Me, Dindi, How Insensitive, The Shadow of Your Smile and others; from Jobim, there are Agua de Beber, Aguas de Marco and others.

However, Coffee & Bossa also offers other tracks that lean more towards Latin jazz. I do not know which one came first, the bossa or the Latin jazz or if they happened at about the same time. I believe though that they both have their roots in the samba. Brazilians developed bossa as a slower, more sensuous version of the samba while the Americans fused jazz elements into the Latin beat. Then everything came together when Jobim met Stan Getz and they did their landmark recordings.

You will find examples of both in Coffee & Bossa performed by American jazz greats and Latin artists. Soul Bossa Nova by Quincy Jones, Felicidade by Joe Henderson, Samba Sensitive by Oscar Peterson, Summer Samba by Dizzy Gillespie, Bahia by Getz and one of the latter’s collaborations with Jobim like Sambalero.

If you think this fascination with the bossa nova is only a local thing, then you have another think coming. For proof, you might want to check out Bossa Nova Disney, an album of familiar Disney tunes interpreted by Latin artists. It is very interesting to find what a little Latin twist in the arrangement can do. This is quite easy with the likes of Circle of Life, Beauty and the Beast and Under the Sea but quite interesting when they take on Hi-Ho, When You Wish Upon a Star, Bibidi Bobidi Boo, Supercalifragilistic or Cruela de Ville. Would you believe that there is even a Mickey Mouse Club Samba.

The bossa nova is truly here to stay.