Very early recordings of work penned by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfa – nearly all of which predate their more familiar sides from the first years of bossa nova! The dates for these recordings are mostly between 1953 and 1956 – and they show a very early version of the bossa, one that's often built around lightly airy instrumental elements, but which still has some of the fuller flourishes of the generation before. The set's a bit short on notes overall, but does list the dates and players for each track – and even without that information, it's still a very useful illustration of what came before bossa nova – and why the bossa sound had a particular quality that was so different! Most tracks were penned by either Jobim or Bonfa, or both – and titles are a mix of instrumental and vocal numbers – with 27 tracks that include "Domingo Sincopado" by Edu, "Luar E Batucada" by Sylvia Telles, "Teu Castigo" by Daiva De Oliveira, "So Saudade" by Claudia Morena, "Violao No Samba" by Luiz Bonfa, "Samba Nao E Brinquedo" by Dora Lopes, "A Chuva Caiu" by Luiz Bonfa, "Passeio No Rio" by Luiz Bonfa & Ed Lincoln, and "Perdido De Amor" by Dick Farney – plus 8 tracks from the pair's great score to the play "Orfeu Da Conceicao", which was the precursor to Black Orpheus! CD

A pretty darn great set that captures bits from all of Stan Getz's bossa nova recordings for Verve! The set's got a whopping 4 CDs, and it features Getz working with the likes of Joao Gilberto, Luiz Bonfa, Charlie Byrd, Gary McFarland, Laurindo Almeida, Astrud Gilberto, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Includes some unreleased versions of bossa tunes, plus a huge amount of other great stuff – like "Ebony Samba", "Baia", "Samba Triste", "O Pato", "Samba Dees Days", "Sambalero", "Eu E Voce", "Winter Moon", "Menina Moca", "Vivo Sonhando", and "Para Machuchar Meu Coracoa". CD

A pretty darn great set that captures bits from all of Stan Getz's bossa nova recordings for Verve! The set's got a whopping 5LPs, and it features Getz working with the likes of Joao Gilberto, Luiz Bonfa, Charlie Byrd, Gary McFarland, Laurindo Almeida, Astrud Gilberto, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Includes some unreleased versions of bossa tunes, plus a huge amount of other great stuff – like "Ebony Samba", "Baia", "Samba Triste", "O Pato", "Samba Dees Days", "Sambalero", "Eu E Voce", "Winter Moon", "Menina Moca", "Vivo Sonhando", and "Para Machuchar Meu Coracoa". Easy to find on CD – but darn tough to find on vinyl! LP, Vinyl record album