More than once, I’ve mentioned my long-standing appreciation for Latin jazz. I’ve also made no secret about being a fan of Dave Brubeck since the days when he brought jazz to the mainstream music world with his group’s seminal 1961 recording of “Take Five.” And in a different piece, I touched on how his group’s later album, Bossa Nova USA, sort of connected the dots for many jazz fans. But there is a little more to the story.
When the Dave Brubeck Quartet issued Bossa Nova USA in 1963, I was one of the many fans who went out and bought it. The album turned out to be one of the group’s most popular, second only to their classic breakout effort, Time Out (which contained “Take Five”.)
I loved the new album and played it constantly. I especially liked the title tune, but it was accompanied by a lot of good pieces, mostly written by Brubeck himself. And even though I’m not enough of an expert in the genre to know whether the music was genuine Bossa Nova, there’s little doubt that the album was a hit with fans.
But here’s where the story gets a little sad. Many years ago I got rid of all my old worn vinyl albums and replaced them with modern CDs. For the most part I was successful, but there were a few snags, and it turned out that the Bossa Nova USA album was one that was very difficult to find as a CD. The title tune has shown up on several Brubeck compilations and is available as a download, but the full album is just not easily found.
But I’ll keep looking.
Dave Brubeck Quartet – “Bossa Nova USA”
Geezer Music Club 
I too am a Brubeck fan from “way back when.” I’ve got a number of his albums on 33 rpm… as I recall, that old collection (out in the garage) includes Bossa Nova USA.
About a half dozen years ago – Brubeck was then 80 years old – my wife surprised me for my birthday by taking me to a Brubeck concert. It was great!
I was especially impressed by the fact that Brubeck hadn’t slowed down at all… still writing and still performing. In fact, immediately following that concert in Southern California, he was leaving for Moscow for a performance.
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I agree — Brubeck is amazing for his age. I’ve never had the good fortune to hear him live, but a couple of years ago I reviewed a new album of his that included performances from 2007, and he was still on top of his game.
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This was a mistake I made. I gave all my classical vinyl records to my ex-wife (but retained most of the others). I now have a turntable that can create digital versions by plugging in a USB key. There are several of those old classical records I haven’t found on CD. Oh well.
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Well, if you’re still on speaking terms you could always ask to borrow them long enough to copy them. 🙂
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do you know the real artist and title of this song?
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Dunno, but it doesn’t sound like Brubeck (which is part of your question, I guess) or at least not the original quartet with Desmond, et al…
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