Samba, rock and dictatorships: a brief history of bossa nova
Few musical styles have had as lasting or widespread an influence on the global music scene as bossa nova. Since its inception in the 1950s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s finest musical export has captivated audiences with its infectious rhythm for decades and still influences popular music scenes in Latin America to this day.
Evolving out of traditional samba rhythms around the midpoint of the 20th century, bossa nova put Brazilian music firmly on the map in a global context. Samba music dates back to Afro-Brazilian communities in the 19th century, with a distinct beat and funk quality to it. Carrying over that essence into modern bossa nova, Brazilian artists celebrated their cultural history while updating the sound of the country for the new age.
It is widely accepted that the origins of the bossa movement came with João Gilberto, specifically his track ‘Bim Bom’ and ‘Chega de Saudad’. A kind of amalgamation of American jazz and samba-canção – a slower style of samba that was popular in Brazil during the 1950s. The sound pioneered by Gilberto immediately caught the attention and imagination of young musicians across Rio de Janeiro, who took his unique style of samba and ran with it.
During the following years, in the early part of the 1960s, Brazil witnessed a boom of incredible bossa nova artists. One of the finest artists to arise from the movement was Edu Lobo, an often overlooked figure within the global consciousness. Lobo was responsible for the creation of some of bossa nova’s most innovative and enduring sounds, incorporating a much heavier influence of jazz into his signature sound. Among his incredible body of work, Lobo has collaborated with a wide range of artists across the world, including fellow bossa nova star Chico Buarque.
Buarque was one of a few artists who used their position as notable artists within the bossa nova movement in order to challenge the position of Brazil’s military dictatorship. The South American country has had a particularly tumultuous political history, and in 1964, a coup d’état supported by the US government instilled a military dictatorship. The government then operated a totalitarian regime characterised by censorship and oppression, something that affected many artists and musicians, Chico Buarque included.
As the 1960s progressed, with rock and pop dominating global music trends, bossa nova showed initial signs of being incredibly versatile. Artists like Sérgio Mendes became popular for their rock-influenced bossa nova sound, which was becoming increasingly popular with worldwide audiences. Testament to its widespread popularity, counterculture giants The Doors employed a bossa-esque beat on their popular track ‘Break On Through (to the Other Side)’, with drummer John Densmore claiming to be inspired by Brazilian artists when composing the track.
Although bossa nova had its heyday during the military dictatorship of the 1960s, it remains an incredibly popular music genre within Brazil to this day. Its development into bossa rock and música popular Brasileira (MPB) has cemented the style as being a timeless and ever-adaptable sound that continues to capture the imagination of musicians across the world to this day.