'' Bossa Nova U.S.A. '' is a studio album released by the

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

Quartet in 1963 by

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

originally in the United States as

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

CS 8798 (stereo) and CL 1998 (mono) and in England as SBPG 62127. It was also released by CBS in Australia, as catalog SPB 233.038.

Background and recording

Since 1955, Brubeck had composed and performed pieces originating from influences outside of the European musical tradition, in which this album, released during the

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

craze in the United States of the late 1950s and early 1960s, can be best categorized. It is intended to be "impressionistic" of "the cool wave from Brazil." Recorded through most of 1962, and released early in 1963, the album was designed to be effective on the pop charts. All tracks were recorded in New York City. Five tracks were recorded on January 3, 1962 in a session dedicated to bossa nova. Two additional tracks were recorded on Thursday, July 5 that year in another dedicated session, while an additional two were recorded the same day the next week in a session with an additional track that appeared on the 1965 album '' My Favorite Things''. The last track to be recorded was the title track, laid down on October 25, 1962 in a session that also included three songs appearing elsewhere. This album sits in stark contrast to the "time"-themed series of albums, in that each track is typified simply by a

samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

-based rhythm.

Release

In advance of the album, the title track was released as a single (Columbia 42651) in the last week of 1962, with " This Can't Be Love" as the B-side. This met with moderate success, peaking at #69 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. The album followed soon in early 1963.

Reception

On release, ''

'' called the album "first-class Brubeck." While noting the number of bossa tracks, it particularly singled out a re-working of '' The Trolley Song'' as a standout track. '' The Age'' expected the record to be popular with the general public, but noted "purists will wince." The album found more success with the public than the single, appearing for fifteen weeks on ''Billboard''s album charts, achieving position #14. In 1998, the album was released in Japan as a CD, in mini LP format, in the "Sony Master Sound" series as

Sony Records Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation. Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the label ...

SRCS 9364.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Dave Brubeck, except where indicated:

Personnel

– piano * Paul Desmond – saxophone * Joe Morello –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Eugene Wright – double bass

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bossa Nova U.S.A. 1963 albums Columbia Records albums Dave Brubeck albums Albums produced by Teo Macero Instrumental albums