For those in the know, Johnny Alf has long been thought of as the father of the bossa nova. Whether that statement is completely accurate or whether he was merely a significant influence has been hotly debated over the years. Even if the Brazilian singer-songwriter wasn't the bossa's earliest pure exponent, his softly romantic, Johnny Mathis-like vocal style, his jazzy sense of swing and his rich melodies certainly held sway over many of the artists who would become identified with the bossa nova movement, such as João Gilbert, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Carlos Lyra, and others.
The recording that documents Alf's earliest bossa approach was the 1956 single Rapaz de Bem (Good Boy), which appeared on the A-side of a Copacabana 78rpm, with O Tempo e o Vento (Time and the Wind) on the flip. Alf had written the song in 1953. In 1959, Jonas Silva was among the first to cover Alf's Rapaz de Bem, with João Gilberto on guitar, Ed Lincoln on piano, João Donato on trombone, Bebeto Castilho on bass and Milton Banana on drums.
In 1961, Alf re-recorded Rapaz de Bem as the title track of his first LP and recorded it again on his 1963 album Johnny Alf Sings in English, which wasn't released immediately.
Once the bossa nova became popular, Alf refused to join the many Brazilian artists who traveled to New York to perform at Carnegie Hall in November 1962. As he said in a later interview, “I always played in my own style. I had the idea of joining Brazilian music with jazz. I try to bring everything together to achieve an agreeable result.”
Here's Alf's staggeringly beautiful 1961 album Rapaz de Bem without ad interruptions...
The recording that documents Alf's earliest bossa approach was the 1956 single Rapaz de Bem (Good Boy), which appeared on the A-side of a Copacabana 78rpm, with O Tempo e o Vento (Time and the Wind) on the flip. Alf had written the song in 1953. In 1959, Jonas Silva was among the first to cover Alf's Rapaz de Bem, with João Gilberto on guitar, Ed Lincoln on piano, João Donato on trombone, Bebeto Castilho on bass and Milton Banana on drums.
In 1961, Alf re-recorded Rapaz de Bem as the title track of his first LP and recorded it again on his 1963 album Johnny Alf Sings in English, which wasn't released immediately.
Once the bossa nova became popular, Alf refused to join the many Brazilian artists who traveled to New York to perform at Carnegie Hall in November 1962. As he said in a later interview, “I always played in my own style. I had the idea of joining Brazilian music with jazz. I try to bring everything together to achieve an agreeable result.”
Here's Alf's staggeringly beautiful 1961 album Rapaz de Bem without ad interruptions...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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