Bossa nova's 50th birthday free concert in Brazil

Bossa nova's 50th birthday free concert in Brazil

By Giannis Tsagarakis | Published 03/3/2008 | Music News | Unrated

A free concert was organized in Rio de Janeiro to celebrate the 50th anniversary of bossa nova, the unique Brazilian music that seduces the world.The concert held on its iconic Ipanema beach Saturday was attended by bossa nova pioneers and musicians influenced by the genre, which was first heard in small clubs and cafes in the beachfront districts of Rio de Janeiro around 1958.Despite rain, organizers said the show would go on with performers including veterans Roberto Menescal, Carlos Lyra and Oscar Castro Neves as well as modernists such as the group Bossacucanova, which mixes bossa nova with electronica. "Bossa has its eternal audience and there is also a new one," said show organizer Solange Kafuri.Bossa nova, which can be translated as "the new beat," was born out of the melodies strummed by legendary guitarist Joao Gilberto, although Antonio Carlos Jobim is credited as naming it. In 1969, Gilberto's new musical style reached a worldwide audience with the release of "Girl from Ipanema," one of the greatest hits of bossa nova.But different from samba, a music genre popular among the working class in Brazil, bossa nova often speaks of love, the beach and beautiful women and is described by many as the music of the Brazilian middle and upper classes. source: xinhuanet.com