Nothing captures the sound, the mood or the languor of summer quite like the bossa nova. Invented along the beaches of Rio de Janeiro in the 1950s, the quietly swaying Brazilian music became a ...

This is quite a painful disc to listen to. Not because of the music—which is beautiful—but because of the events surrounding it. Recorded in October 1962, it was to be tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec's ...

Lyra was at the genre’s 1950s birth in Rio beachside jams, bringing sensuality to Brazil’s serious music scene. He explains how he shaped bossa’s stunning melodies – and gave it a social conscience In ...

Charlie Byrd never really got his due as a jazz guitarist; most people see him as a pioneer in bossa nova and little else. Of course it doesn't help that many of his records were quiet affairs, ...

There was one more throw of the dice left for old-fashioned jazz lyricism before the Beatles et al changed the musical landscape, and ensured that jazz would never return to its pre-eminent place in ...

In 1965, jazz had a rare moment in the spotlight at the Grammy awards. Taking home album of the year at the 7 th annual award ceremony wasn't Barbara Streisand or Henry Mancini – although both were ...

Sérgio Mendes, the pianist who gifted the world with the most famous version of the Brazilian classic “Mas Que Nada,” died on Thursday. Born in 1941, Mendes was a 20-year-old musician when he first ...

Sergio Mendes, the innovative and influential pianist, composer and arranger who was one of Brazil’s earliest contemporary crossover artists, died Thursday in Los Angeles, his family has confirmed. No ...

He was the Brazilian music legend who brought bossa nova to a global audience in a career that lasted more than 60 years. In the past few days, tributes have been flooding in for legendary Brazilian ...