From Ipanema to the Elevator: Bobby Lee Rodgers Jazz Trio Brings Bossa Nova to Life at Green Room Tonight

-- Brian Zimmerman

Picture this: You're in an elevator, alone, when suddenly, a gentle island ditty starts piping through the speakers.

It starts with a guitar, a wave-like rhythm that reminds you of white sand and lapping waves. Then the melody kicks in. It sounds familiar, strangely familiar, and you probe your mind for where you've heard it before. Fragments of lyrics start to assemble in your brain. Your foot begins to tap. Suddenly, you're singing: "Tall and tan and young and lovely, the Girl from Ipanema goes walking..." Then you stop and wonder: How the hell do I know this song?

Well, if you're like anyone else in America, you've probably heard this

song a thousand times -- although you might not have known it. Its name,

quite appropriately, is "The Girl From Ipanema," and it was written by

Antonio Carlos Jobim, a Brazilian pianist and composer who helped

pioneer the bossa nova genre.

Today the song is the default track for

elevators and shopping malls around the country, and chances are, if

you've ever been put on hold, this is the song that's pumping through

the phone. But believe it or not, this song wasn't always a Muzak

cliché. In fact, there was once a time when bossa nova was immensely

popular in the United States. And much of that popularity can be

attributed to Antonio Carlos Jobim, whose song about a real-life girl on

a real-life beach helped make bossa nova a worldwide phenomenon.  

Since the 1950s, when the music was first heard on American

airwaves, the name Jobim has been synonymous with bossa nova. Jobim's

style -- a blend of African rhythms, Brazilian melodies, and European

harmonies -- meshed perfectly with the already popular "cool jazz" of the

American West Coast, and for the next few years Jobim collaborated

extensively with cool jazz artists to bring his music to the United

States.

Then in 1958, bossa nova witnessed a wild surge in popularity,

spurred on by a Portuguese-language movie called Black Orpheus. The

movie's score -- which featured a bevy of soon-to-be classics like "Manha

de Carnival," "Samba de Orfeu," and "A Felicidade" -- was written by none

other than Antonio Carlos Jobim and fellow Brazilian Luiz Bonfa. The

movie's soundtrack was an instant hit with American audiences, and by

the time The Girl From Ipanema album was released in 1964, with

saxophone by Stan Getz, bossa nova was a full-fledged craze. For the

youth of beat-generation America, whose members were never without their

bongos or acoustic guitars, bossa nova was a fun and exotic companion

to American popular music, and Jobim, the mastermind behind it all, had

become a musical icon.  

But the wild success enjoyed by bossa nova during the 1950s and early

'60s came to a close just as another kind of music was beginning to sweep

the country: rock 'n' roll. Soon enough, the island sounds of Jobim and

his contemporaries were replaced by the surf-rock melodies of the

Beatles and the Beach Boys. California girls, after all, were much more

familiar to Americans than the ones from Ipanema. Before long, bossa

nova was all but extinct. Though it retained small pockets of

dedicated followers throughout the country, especially in regions with

sizable Latin American communities, its commercial appeal was

ultimately lost. The Brazilian music, literally translated as "the new

beat," had become old news.  

But we, as South Floridians, can change all that. With the distinct

advantage of living in close proximity to South America, where the

tropical breezes blowing in from the coast carry with them the rhythms

and harmonies of Rio de Janeiro, we are in the perfect place to put

bossa nova back on the map. After all, this region is rich in Brazilian

culture and art. Just look at the statistics. Several of our cities,

like North Bay Village in Miami and Deerfield Beach in Broward, have

some of the highest percentages of Brazilian residents in the U.S. (North

Bay ranks number two on the list; Deerfield is number eight). So if there's going to be a

bossa nova revival in this country, it has to start here.

So how can you bring bossa nova back to life? One way is by heading to the Green Room this

Thursday night, April 26, to check out the Jazz Sessions concert with

the Bobby Lee Rodgers Jazz Trio. If you've never seen a Jazz Sessions

concert before (they happen every month and feature music by a

different jazz artist each time), you're really missing out.

Now's your

chance to make amends for your absence and get your fill of bossa nova

at the same time. This month's concert will showcase the music of

Antonio Carlos Jobim, but it won't be like any Jobim you've heard

before. Bobby Lee, a master of interpretation and a brilliant improviser

in his own right, will have you out of your seat and snapping your

fingers like the beatnik you know you are. So forget what you heard

about Muzak and make sure to check out this month's Jazz Sessions at the

Green Room. You won't even have to take an elevator to get there.  

Revolution Live Box Office, cost $5. Visit Green Room Live for more information.