On November 21, 1962, at the height of the new youthful presidency of John F. Kennedy, a bossa nova concert was held at New York's Carnegie Hall. The bossa nova had already become a hit in the U.S. thanks to Stan Getz's Jazz Samba, released in April of that year. The purpose of the autumn event was to expose the audience to actual bossa nova artists and composers as part of an ongoing cultural exchange program with Brazil. The U.S. government was feverishly trying to awaken the arts and boost trade to keep communism at bay in Brazil and the rest of South America after the fall of Cuba. [Photo above, from left, Carlos Lyra, Antônio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, Miltinho Banana and Normanto Santos at the 1962 concert, courtesy of Carnegie Hall]
The bossa nova had been discovered by jazz musicians on a State Department tour in Brazil in 1961. Musicians brought back the music in the form of albums. Felix Grant, a jazz disc jockey in Washington D.C., was the first to promote the bossa nova on the air here, as I noted in an earlier post here. The Carnegie Hall event in 1962 was sponsored by the Brazil Consul General, Audio Fidelity Records, which taped the event for release in 1963, and Show magazine. [Photo above of João Gilberto at the concert, courtesy of Carnegie Hall]
CBS News Eyewitness, a network TV news magazine show, reported on "The New Beat" and took the measure of the rhythmic Brazilian sensation. Here's part of the CBS segment that aired on December 28, 1962 and originally ran 29 minutes, with ads...
Here's material that's missing, a fascinating four minutes featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim helping a stiff Gerry Mulligan phrase the bossa nova feel on the clarinet. Given who Mulligan was at the time and what he had accomplished, the fact that he had trouble getting the feel down seems inconceivable. Note how Jobim sensitively avoids lecturing Mulligan on camera and running the risk of embarrassing him. Instead, Jobim waits for Mulligan to hint that he could use assistance before jumping back in and showing him the way...
For a description of the entire broadcast, here's a summary from the Paley Center for Media:
One in this series of news programs that analyzes in-depth the major events of the week. This program examines the phenomenal popularity of the musical genre called "bossa nova," a Brazilian creation that mixes indigenous Samba rhythms with "cool" jazz imported from the West Coast of the USA, resulting in a subtle and restrained yet romantic sound enamored of young American tastemakers. The bossa nova craze extends from college fraternity parties to the White House, where Jacqueline Kennedy is seen listening appreciatively to a concert by the Paul Winter Sextet. Eminent bossa nova musician Antonio Carlos Jobim performs a duet with jazz saxophonist Gerry Mulligan (here playing clarinet) on Jobim's "One Note Samba"; Mulligan comically struggles with the deceptively difficult phrasing of the style. Jobim and Mulligan discuss bossa nova's cool allure and their dismay at the commercialization of the music.
Disc jockey Murray the K (Murray Kaufman) registers his belief that the trend will die due to the lack of an accompanying dance step; dance instructor Arthur Murray tries to remedy the situation with bossa nova dance classes (the awkward students seem to share Mulligan's difficulty with the intricate rhythm). This program also includes performance footage of the following bossa nova acts: guitarist/singer Joao Gilberto; the Stan Getz Quartet; the Luis Carlos Trio; and the Oscar Castro Neves Quartet. Includes commercials.
A special thanks to Carl Woideck.
