With the popularization of bossa nova in the early '60s, practically every recording artist had to have at least one bossa nova album. This effort by the Dave Brubeck Quartet is better than most due to the high quality of the compositions, of which the title cut is best-known. The date's two standards ("This Can't Be Love" and "Trolley Song") also fare well on this upbeat session. Since 1955, Brubeck had composed and performed pieces originating from influences outside of the European musical tradition, in which this album, released during the bossa nova craze in the United States of the late 1950s and early 1960s, can be best categorized as "impressionistic" of "the cool wave from Brazil. Recorded through most of 1962, and released early in 1963, the album was designed to be effective on the pop charts. DAVE BRUBECK piano PAUL DESMOND alto saxophone EUGENE WRIGHT bass JOE MORELLO drums Produced by Teo Macero for Colombia Records, New York, January 1962.
