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- 2. Alston 2
clings to the key given, also the pitch isn’t altered, or relaxed in any way. In Cubop,
intonation (playing in tune) is prioritized before rhythm. The opposite is the case in bossa
nova’s character as a genre.
Cubop also loses out in popularity due to bossa nova and its rhythmically simpler
subgenre, called Samba, due to its relative lack of melodic variance compared to bossa
nova. This is because the Brazilian musicians responsible for bossa nova introduced
patterns of harmony that were new to jazz around the late 1950s (Perrone 1). Charles A.
Perrone, author and University of Florida professor, also says of bossa nova “Lyricists
avoided the melodrama of the sambacanção, instead tending to reflect the amenities of
middleclass life and using a colloquial tone that corresponded to the speechlike mode of
singing” (Perrone 2). This pedestrian approach to lyrics is one of the primary reasons for
the genre’s popularity among American jazz artists.
Bossa nova’s popularity in the United States is due more to the promotion from
American artists and businessman than to the Brazilian artists that created it. This is
proven in 1961, when President Kennedy’s Good Neighbor programs are allowing
musicians like Charlie Byrd to experience bossa nova authentically (Perrone 5). Byrd, a
guitarist, was likely drawn to bossa nova’s main focus on rhythm rather than the notation.
This focus is borne out of the international collaboration during the slave trade that
formed the foundation of all Latin jazz, not just bossa nova.
Two primary regions are responsible for Latin jazz: West Africa and South America.
Centuries ago, Spain and Portugal were active in the slave industry that brought Africans
to North and South America (Werner 2). In those countries percussion was not only an