Samba-jazz or jazz samba is an instrumental subgenre of

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

that emerged in the bossa nova ambit in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Brazil. The style consolidated the approach of Brazilian samba with American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, especially

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

and

hard bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...

, jazzy styles quite experienced by Brazilian musicians in scope of gafieiras and nightclubs especially in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. Having its initial formation based on the piano, the double bass and the drums, samba-jazz gradually absorbed broader musical instruments. Unlike bossa nova, which is a style of samba characterized by its intimate spirit, soft sound and the restraint of sound elements, samba-jazz has many elements present in improvising and stridency. Nevertheless as bossa nova became well known, samba-jazz itself was favored by the bossa-novista repertoire, and a whole generation of instrumentalists influenced by American jazz, such as

Sérgio Mendes Sérgio Santos Mendes (; 11 February 1941 – 5 September 2024) was a Brazilian musician. His career took off with worldwide hits by his band Brasil '66. He released 35 albums and was known for playing bossa nova, often mixed with funk. He ...

, J.T. Meirelles, Edison Machado, Dom Um Romão, Zimbo Trio, Tamba Trio, Milton Banana Trio, Jongo Trio, among others, became involved with the style led by

João Gilberto João Gilberto (born João Gilberto do Prado Pereira de Oliveira – ; 10 June 1931 – 6 July 2019) was a Brazilian guitarist, singer, and composer who was a pioneer of the musical genre of bossa nova in the late 1950s. Around the world, he w ...

References

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* * * Brazilian styles of music {{Brazil-musician-stub