Bossa Nova Music

All-acoustic, classic-style arrangements of bossa nova songs (most of them not overdone "hits" in North America). The two singers do great solos and duets. And the songs with special guests - wow! Check out Track 5 with Joyce, making the most marvelous 3-part singing you can imagine. On track 4 they have Gal Costa, on Track 7 they add the 4 ladies of Quartetto Em Cy to get an incredible 6-voice sound. If you like old-style bossa this is a hidden pearl of great value - it should be selling in the millions, it's that good.

No liner notes to speak of (or photos), just the song titles, composers, and times. But those voices - as close as I can imagine the sounds of heaven.

Ordered the wrong cd (my error)and did not notice until it was unwrapped and played. No problem at all with the ordering and shipping. Was able to purchase a used cd by the artist I had originally intended to get and that worked satisfactorily. Will use Amazon again.

Turn it on and close your eyes. Slowly you realize this is a different world. Everything seems light, cheerful, easy and relaxed but that tricky breeze is constantly changing and moving things around, giving you pleasant surprises at every turn. It is like a boat that gently rocks and sways to the constantly changing waves. As you relax to the music it carries you away.
This is bossa nova at its best, by one of the best. Wanda Sa (also known as Wanda de Sa) was there at the beginning, in the 60's. She made her first album at 19 (Vagamente) and was probably the youngest of the group that included Joao Gilberto, Tom Jobim and (her guitar teacher) Roberto Menescal. These were the people that created the bossa nova sound. She sang with Surgio Mendes but unlike the others, she has remained mainly a Brazilian singer. Until recently, her many albums have been difficult to get in this country. I heard her in the 60's and was enchanted. Now, thanks to the Internet, many of her albums are available so I have been slowly collecting, as my income allows.
When you hear her sing and play the guitar you can tell you are listing to someone who has lived with this music all her life. Her slightly off rhythm singing seems so simple and light. Then you notice that she has does things with the rhythm that most singers would never dream of attempting. This is what gives you that "boat on the sea" feeling.
I am not familiar with Celia Vaz but her voice fits very well with Wanda's. If you buy this CD do not buy "Brasileiras" it is the same disk. "Amazon River" is the US issue and "Brasileiras" is the import from Brazil. They are the same, with the same price. One just takes longer to deliver.
If you love Bossa Nova, and you probably wouldn't be reading this if you didn't, then you should not miss this artist. I can also recommend some of her other CD's that I have listened to. Specifically "Eu E a Musica," "Bossa Tres," and her first album (now a CD), "Wanda Vagamente."
Just close your eyes and listen. You will realize you have found something very special.

.....fabulous. I've had a love affair with Ana's music for more than 15 years now. The recordings she's done for Chesky have all been a joy, and this [the second] is no exception. This wonderful singer introduced me to Latin jazz, and I've never been sorry. She seduces me even if I can't understand a word. [On other albums, Ana proves she can sing English quite well].

Ana has the mixed blessing to sing for Chesky Records. They are a boutique label, whose product is difficult to find. {Tower, we miss thee} On the other hand, the quality is exceeded by none, and only matched by one. Perfect sound, always; you don't just hear the music, you FEEL it.

Beautiful girl, great voice, great music, the best engineering anywhere...if you don't know Latin jazz, or Ana, start right here. Prepare to get seduced, and love every minute of it.

Absolutely excellent sound with fine percussion, vocals and many acoustic instruments. Plus very strong drive in this music.

I don't know why more people don't know who Ana Caram is! This disc is recorded with some fantastic acoustics from Chesky--I used to use it to calibrate sound systems, travelling to audio salons with it. The instruments and her voice have depth, presence and nuance that are captured perfectly--enough to test your own equipment. The music is uplifting--romantic and jazzy. A must-have!

Este disco es continuar con la maestría de Antonio Carlos Jobim, en su intención de mostrar al mundo la belleza de la mezcla de música, para el escuchar y sentir.

It's probably just me--but if I make a copy of this album without the first tune, I end up with one of the finest Bossa Nova albums I've ever heard.

When Amor de Gente Moça (not "Mocau", for Jobim's sake!) was released in 1959, Sylvia Telles was already acknowledged as a major singer. She'd had one huge popular hit, Amendoim Torradinho, and recorded a handful of Jobim songs as singles. But AGM, coming right after Elizete Cardoso's Canção do Amor Demais (first all-Jobim & Vinícius de Moraes album) and João Gilberto's debut album Chega de Saudade, was the very first all-Jobim-music album ever, and not only consolidated him as a major composer but also laid the final cornerstone to what would have been known as "bossa nova". Furthermore, it established Sylvia as *the* female bossa nova voice.

Even before that, she was already a "modern" singer on her own, veering away from the "operistic" voice until then predominant among Brazilian female singers. Not that she lacked what it would have taken: she had the range, the strength, the vibrato and knew how to use them - when and if needed. Otherwise, she could, and would, croon and/or "bop" - again, as needed.

"Gente Moça". Sylvia was just that, "young people". A young voice, singing the songs of youth, from and to a country that, at the time, was bursting at the seems with youthful energy.