Bossa Antigua
Studio album by
Paul Desmond
Released1965
RecordedJuly 28 & 29, 1964, August 20, 1964 and September 8, 1964
RCA Studio A, New York City
GenreJazz
Length58:45
LabelRCA Victor LPM 3320
ProducerGeorge Avakian
Paul Desmond chronology
Take Ten
(1963) 		Bossa Antigua
(1965) 		Glad to Be Unhappy
(1964)

Bossa Antigua is an album recorded by American jazz saxophonist Paul Desmond featuring performances recorded in 1964 which were released on the RCA Victor label.[1][2][3] The album title is a word play on bossa nova (in English, "the new thing"), the genre of Brazilian music that inspired the album. "Bossa Antigua" loosely translates in English to "old thing", though "antigua" is a Spanish word rather than Portuguese ("bossa antiga" would be a more accurate Portuguese translation of Desmond's joke).[4] Antigua is also the name an island in the West Indies popular with North American tourists.

Context

Desmond recorded the majority of Bossa Antigua between July 28 and September 8, 1964, which coincided with the height of the popularity of bossa nova in the United States. Bossa nova had been embraced and popularized by North American musicians following the release of Stan Getz's album Jazz Samba in 1962. Other American jazz saxophonists who subsequently made bossa nova recordings include Zoot Sims, Coleman Hawkins, Gene Ammons, Cannonball Adderley and Desmond himself, with his 1963 album Take Ten. The genre's biggest chart success in the U.S. was Getz's recording of "The Girl from Ipanema", which peaked at number five in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on July 17, 1964.[5]

Desmond would continue to incorporate Brazilian rhythms and songs into his music for the rest of his life, recording an album of Brazilian music in 1969 (From the Hot Afternoon), and the songs "Wave", "Manhã de Carnaval", and "Meditation" in 1975 with his final working group for the albums Live and the posthumous Like Someone in Love.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[6]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings [7]
Record Mirror[8]

Allmusic awarded the album 4 stars, stating, "The playing is wonderful throughout, though just missing the full-throttle inspiration of Take Ten".[6]

Track listing

All compositions by Paul Desmond except where noted.

  1. "Bossa Antigua" – 4:43
  2. "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (Jerry Brainin, Buddy Bernier) – 5:04
  3. "O Gato" (Jane Herbert) – 4:33
  4. "Samba Cantina" – 5:38
  5. "Curacao Doloroso" – 4:30
  6. "A Ship Without a Sail" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 6:18
  7. "Alianca" – 4:29
  8. "The Girl from East 9th Street" – 6:13
  9. "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" [alternate take] (Brainin, Bernier) – 7:18 Bonus track on CD reissue
  10. "Samba Cepeda" – 5:06 Bonus track on CD reissue
  11. "O Gato" [alternate take] – 4:53 Bonus track on CD reissue

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Paul Desmond Catalog accessed February 29, 2016
  2. ^ Paul Desmond Discography Part Three: 1960-1969 Archived 2016-03-24 at the Wayback Machine accessed February 29, 2016
  3. ^ Berry, S. Jim Hall discography Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine accessed February 29, 2016
  4. ^ Album liner notes Archived March 11, 2015, at the Wayback Machine accessed May 1, 2015
  5. ^ "Chart History: Astrud Gilberto". Billboard. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Ginell, Richard S.. Bossa Antigua – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  7. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 369. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  8. ^ Jones, Peter; Jopling, Norman (31 July 1965). "Paul Desmond: Bossa Antigua" (PDF). Record Mirror. No. 229. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
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