ProJazz.net

“That’s the South American…stuff!” So begins Perry Como’s introduction to the bossa nova performance that would follow. While “stuff” obviously wasn’t the word he was searching for, he can be forgiven for his inability to pluck a more descriptive word from the ether since bossa nova was new to North American shores in 1962 when this performance took place.

As American purveyors of this new sound, saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist Charlie Byrd teamed up to make the 1962 “Jazz Samba” LP, which is regarded as the first exposure most Americans had to the bossa nova sound. In this video, the band performs one of the tunes from the Jazz Samba LP – Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Desafinado,” followed by some fooling around when Perry Como joins in.