I enjoyed it right along with everyone else, but what really did it for me was when my favorite conventional jazz group, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, joined in with their best-selling album, Bossa Nova USA. I absolutely loved that album, especially the solos by alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, who was already a big favorite of mine. Desmond seemed made to order for the music with his melodic, lyrical style, and apparently I wasn't the only one who felt that way, because he ended up recording a lot of Latin music throughout the rest of his career.
One of his later recordings is a song I've always loved, and it's been performed by a lot of musicians. It's another Jobim composition, and I'm willing to bet that you'll instantly recognize the melody, even if you don't know the title. It's from Desmond's 1975 album Pure Desmond, and it's simply called "Wave".
Brazilian jazz, and in a larger sense all Latin jazz, is a genre that deserves to be recognized and celebrated.
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