Recorded In Rio de Janerio

From the start, New York flute master Herbie Mann incorporated international sounds into his music, and in 1962—two years before Stan Getz's landmark album with Joao Gilberto made bossa nova an American success—Mann cut a record in Rio with singer/guitarist Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim. The album wasn't released until 1965; presumably Atlantic Records was emboldened to unveil it after Getz's breakthrough. And while it didn't contain a crossover hit like Getz/Gilberto's "The Girl from Ipanema," this collaboration from Mann, Gilberto, and Jobim (initially an eponymous release but often displayed as Recorded in Rio de Janeiro) is a worthy companion to Getz's more famous Brazilian outing. While maintaining a jazzy swing, Mann melts right into the bossa nova feel, while Gilberto's supple guitar rhythms and soft, sensuous vocal delivery embody the style's sophisticated but sexy aesthetic. And Jobim's arrangements of his own classic compositions ("Desafinado," "Insensitive"), as well as those of others, lend the whole thing an unmatchable air of elegance.