Bossa Now

"Want to impress a jazz snob? Say 'Tom Jobim's harmony is better than Cole Porter's.' Then walk away."

"He came out with a new way to play guitar. Thumb plays the samba rhythm on the bass strings. Fingers play jazz chords on the treble. Two rhythms at once. One guitar." "Want to impress a jazz snob

"The Girl from Ipanema" almost didn't happen. Astrud Gilberto had never sung professionally. João brought her to the studio just to translate for Stan Getz. Stan told her to sing. History made. Fingers play jazz chords on the treble

"You know this sound. But you don't know it." Astrud Gilberto had never sung professionally

"In the 1950s, Rio was loud. Samba drums everywhere. Then, a shy guy named João Gilberto locked himself in a bathroom for months."

How did a quiet, local Brazilian genre become a symbol of international sophistication during the Cold War?