Latin American Music Trivia

1. What are the stylistic origins of the bossa nova?

From Quiz On the footsteps of "The Girl from Ipanema"

Answer: samba and jazz

Bossa nova is a genre derived from Brazilian samba bearing influences from cool jazz. The altered chords specific to jazz music give it a more complex harmony, yet it still keeps the drum beats characteristic of samba. Typical instruments used for performing the bossa nova include the acoustic guitar, the piano, the electronic organ, acoustic basses and drums.

From Quiz Capoeira: Songs and Instruments

Answer: Obrigado

Portuguese is the language spoken in Brazil, and so it became the language of Capoeira. The songs are all sung in it, and many Capoeira players are fluent in the language.

From Quiz On the footsteps of "The Girl from Ipanema"

Answer: Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim

The bossa nova style was first introduced by Brazilian guitarist and singer Joao Gilberto (born 1931), whose guitar accompanying of Elizete Cardoso's "Chega de Saudade" turned the song into an instant hit. The song was composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994) (lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes), also a Brazilian composer, arranger, singer, pianist and guitarist. The two then paired to produce in 1959 "Chega de Saudade" - the album - the first ever bossa nova album. From that point on, the bossa nova style went to be embraced by many artists, not only Brazilians but also famous North American jazz musicians.

From Quiz Capoeira: Songs and Instruments

Answer: Berimbau

The Berimbau is a slight variation on an African instrument, and is made of a gourd, wire, a short piece of string, and long flexible stick. The result resembles a longbow, with a few extra attachments.

From Quiz On the footsteps of "The Girl from Ipanema"

Answer: Stan Getz

While Gilberto and Jobim have the merit of creating the genre, Stan Getz (1927-1991) - perhaps the greatest tenor saxophonist of all time - should also be credited as one of its main promoters outside South America. His interest in bossa nova was stirred while working with fellow jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd on the "Jazz Samba" album, featuring themes of the newly appeared Brazilian style. He then met with Gilberto and Jobim and together they went to record the Getz/Gilberto album, released in 1963, which was to become the best selling jazz album of all times, a success mostly attributed to its main single - the famous "The Girl from Ipanema". Boosted by this truly remarkable album, bossa nova seduced the world, as people of all ages from Latin America to North Europe, Europe and as far as Japan became great admirers of the style.

From Quiz On the footsteps of "The Girl from Ipanema"

Answer: Anton Carlos Jobim

As with most of the songs on the Getz/Gilberto album, "The Girl from Ipanema" was composed by Antonio Jobim on lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. The song was performed by Astrud Gilberto, Joao's wife, and as the song became an international hit, it also established her as a jazz star. Although this was the most successful recording of the song, it was not the first, an earlier commercial version being recorded in 1962, by Pery Ribeiro. Contrary to the wide spread legend that the two composers came up with the song on site while hanging out in a bar-café, Jobim did in fact wrote the melody in his home in Rua Barao da Torre, in Ipanema, while de Moraes wrote the lyrics in Petropolis, near Rio. And it did not take just a spark of inspiration, but rather a channeled creator effort from both artists, as the original destination for the song was supposed to be a musical comedy that they were both working to at the time.

From Quiz Capoeira: Songs and Instruments

Answer: That police were coming

When Capoeira was still illegal in Brazil the musicians could use a change in the rhythm to warn everyone of the oncoming danger.

From Quiz On the footsteps of "The Girl from Ipanema"

Answer: Rio de Janeiro

The bossa nova sounds originated on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. The term bossa itself was used by the artistic beach-culture of late 1950's Rio de Janeiro to refer to a new artistic trend or style. Due to the depiction of a generally bohemian lifestyle in its lyrics, praising love, the beaches and beautiful women, bossa nova has been described as the music of the middle and upper classes. From this point of view, it contrasted with samba, which spoke of the hardships and struggles of the working class.

From Quiz Capoeira: Songs and Instruments

Answer: Boa viagem

Music is an extremely important part of the martial art. It helps the players (the people fighting) stay together, and can tell them what to do or even describe what is happening in the room.

From Quiz On the footsteps of "The Girl from Ipanema"

Answer: Vinicius de Moraes

Vinicius de Moraes (1913 - 1980), nicknamed "o poetihna" (the little poet), wrote the lyrics for countless Brazilian hit songs. Besides this he was a poet, playwright, diplomat and a composer on his own. One of his accomplishments is linked to the renowned film "Black Orpheus" (won the Palme D'Or at Cannes, the Oscar for Best Foreign Film and the Bafta Award) which was based on one of his plays and furthermore featured a wonderful bossa nova soundtrack by Antonio Jobim. Jobim was in fact one of his long time collaborators, as the duo created many all-time classic songs for Joao Gilberto's first, second and third bossa nova albums. And of course, he wrote the original, Portuguese version of "The Girl from Ipanema" - "Garota de Ipanema". This melancholic song speaks about the excitement and at the same time sadness of the poet as a beautiful girl passes by him each day and yet she seems not to be aware of his deep love for her. The English lyrics for the song were written by Norman Gimbel.

From Quiz Capoeira: Songs and Instruments

Answer: Caxixi

You hold the caxixi in the hand you hold the paketa (the stick used to strike the wire on the berimbau) in, and it can add a little extra flare to your beat. Some rhythms use it as the final beat on its own.

From Quiz On the footsteps of "The Girl from Ipanema"

Answer: hanging out in a bar

"The Girl of Ipanema"'s charm does not come entirely from the music itself. The song is also shrouded by the myth according to which Antonio Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes wrote the song while hanging out in the Velosso bar, situated on the Rua Montenegro in the fashionable Ipanema district and watching a very beautiful girl pass by each afternoon. The truth is however less "romantic", as writing songs in bars was clearly not the duo's style of composing / writing as they admitted years later. Still, the legend caught on, and today, the Veloso is called "Garota da Ipanema" while the Rua Montenegro is called Rua Vinícius de Moraes.

From Quiz Capoeira: Songs and Instruments

Answer: A drum

The Atabaque is a large drum the rests on the floor and comes up to just around your knee level (depending on how tall you are) when you sit down. The Atabaque provides a strong base beat in a roda.

From Quiz On the footsteps of "The Girl from Ipanema"

Answer: Frank Sinatra

Since its release in the early 60s, the song has been performed by over 50 artists including Frank Sinatra, Sergio Mendes, The Supremes ("Boy from Ipanema"), Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald ("The Boy From Ipanema"), Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, Diana Krall, Cher, and Michael Bolton.

From Quiz Capoeira: Songs and Instruments

Answer: The Ladainha

The Ladainhas can be short or long and they usually have a message in them. They have no chorus in between verses, and are sung by a soloist.

From Quiz Capoeira: Songs and Instruments

Answer: Eu vou jogar

'O cade salome', is one of the verses to "Adao, adao", and 'abalou capoeira', and 'como vai voce' are parts of other choruses.

From Quiz Capoeira: Songs and Instruments

Answer: Berimbau, Pandeiro, Atabaque, A-go-go

The berimbau is the lead instrument that the rest of the musicians and the players look to for the rhythm, so it has to go first. Then the others follow in order (although, interestingly enough, the order they start in is not the order they are sitting in). Only after all the instruments have joined in are the players allowed to begin a game.

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Last Updated Apr 22 2024 11:05 AM

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