Brazilian Jazz for the Classical Guitar - Steven Saulls, Classical Guitarist
About the music and the composer…
"Samba de uma Nota Só", known in English as "One Note Samba", is a bossa nova and jazz standard song composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim with Portuguese lyrics by Newton Mendonça. The English lyrics were written by Jon Hendricks. It was first recorded by João Gilberto in 1960 for his album O Amor, o Sorriso e a Flor.
The song title refers to the main melody line, which at first consists of a long series of notes of a single tone (typically D, as played in the key of G) played over a descending chord progression in a bossa nova rhythm. The first eight measures consist of D, followed by four measures of G, and then four measures of D. This is followed by eight measures of a more conventional, scalar melody line.
This well-known song first reached a wide audience on the Grammy-winning bossa nova LP Jazz Samba (Getz/Byrd/Betts), which reached the number one spot on the Billboard 200 in 1963. Another well-known release is the Sergio Mendes-Brasil '66 version, in medley with "Spanish Flea".
The song was featured in a prominent scene of "A Man Without a Skin", a 1963 episode of Naked City. The song was mentioned in the song "Astrud" by Basia. Rogério Skylab parodied the song as "Samba de uma Nota Só ao Contrário" on his 2009 live album Skylab IX.
Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (January 25, 1927 - December 8, 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (Portuguese pronunciation: [tõ ʒoˈbĩ]), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered one of the great exponents of Brazilian music, Jobim internationalized bossa nova and, with the help of important American artists, merged it with jazz in the 1960s to create a new sound, with popular success. As a result, he is sometimes known as the "father of bossa nova".
Jobim was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists internationally since the early 1960s. (Wikipedia)
About the performer...
Steven began studying the guitar at age nine and has attended some of the finest music schools in the world including the Berklee College of Music (Boston), and the Mozarteum (Salzburg, Austria). He holds both a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Washington University (1980) and a Master of Music degree from the University of Arizona (1982).
Over the past 40 years, Steven has performed hundreds of concerts throughout the United States, Central & South America and Europe. His debut recordings ‘Espressivo’ and ‘Steven Saulls Plays Works by Ponce, Torroba & Bach’ have received wide acclaim both nationally and internationally. In addition to solo concerts, he has performed over 200 chamber works including guitar concerti (with orchestra) by Vivaldi, Ponce and Rodrigo.
About the recording...
Recorded at The Steven Saulls Guitar Studio, Sahuarita, Arizona 2023/Guitar handcrafted by Martin Blackwell.
Copyright© 2023 Steven Saulls, Sahuarita, Arizona
For additional information please contact Steven Saulls at sdsaulls@gmail.com