The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    An original tune by Laurindo Almeida. I love the totally wacky sound FX intro. It's from his 1978 recording "Concerto Dr Aranjuez". I used to have this on LP but haven't had it for years until I recently snagged a Japanese CD reissue on eBay for $8 bucks. It's much more expensive on Amazon and most other sites. Just beautiful chord melody classical guitar playing throughout.


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    almeida was a wonderful guitarist..self taught in brazil..he wound up with 5 grammys for classical and jazz recordings..and was the founding father of bossa nova in the states (with bud shank) in 1953!!!

    he did large amount of soundtrack and session work as well




    cheers

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  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by neatomic
    almeida was a wonderful guitarist..self taught in brazil..he wound up with 5 grammys for classical and jazz recordings..and was the founding father of bossa nova in the states (with bud shank) in 1953!!!

    he did large amount of soundtrack and session work as well




    cheers
    As pivotal as those early '50s sessions are, they're not, by Bud Shank's own admission, true Bossa Nova recordings. That didn't really coalesce until later in the decade. Here's an informative interview with Shank that outlines the order of events:

    Bud Shank: Bossa Nova (Part 1) - JazzWax
    Bud Shank: Bossa Nova (Part 2) - JazzWax
    Bud Shank: Bossa Nova (Part 3) - JazzWax

    It's interesting that despite Jobim telling the saxophonist in private how important his early work was in the development was in the formation of Bossa Nova, he later played down the role of Shank and other West Coast jazz musicians in interviews citing the French 'impressionists', Debussy and Ravel as more influential.

  7. #6
    While not yet true Bossa Nova, I believe that Almeida and Shank's role in those early recordings has been undervalued. Certainly the spirit of marrying West Coast jazz with Brazilian music was all over that music. Almeida worked with many jazz musicians throughout his career without ever becoming a jazz guitarist himself. I recall an interview where he said how much he admired watch plectrum technicians like Pass and Roberts play when they crossed paths in the LA studios. Likewise, George Benson is a big admirer of Almeida's playing.