Valle, So Nice
The Brazilian composer Marcos Valle (b. 1943) wrote Samba de Verão (“Summer Samba”) in 1964. It became an immediate hit in Brazil and quickly made its way to the United States as part of the Bossa Nova craze. The original lyrics in Portuguese by the composer’s brother, Paulo Sérgio Valle, were replaced with English lyrics by Norman Gimbel with the title So Nice. The song was recorded in 1966 by Astrud Gilberto and the Walter Wanderly Trio.
If you were around in the 1960s, you may recall how the Bossa Nova suddenly became quite popular. The term, which translates as “new trend” or “new wave” was a fusion of the samba and a light jazz style. The samba originated in Brazil in the early 20th century both as a dance form and musical genre. Valle played a key role in popularizing the Bossa Nova and became one of Brazil’s leading songwriters.
The Bossa Nova had a relaxed and soothing sound with sophisticated lyrics celebrating romance and natural beauty. The style was epitomized by The Girl from Ipanema (1962) and the light, unaffected voice of singer Astrud Gilberto. Her recording of that song with saxophonist Stan Getz received the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. Gimbel also composed the English lyrics on that song. We all learned to play The Girl from Ipanema on our guitars.
Everybody seemed to get on board with this new wave. Another Brazilian musician, Sergio Mendez, rode this wave this popularity with his ensemble Brasil ’66. Other non-Brazilian musicians with no special association with the style also joined in. Burt Bacharach, who worked with Valle, had his 1967 hit The Look of Love. Dave Brubeck released an album in 1962 called “Bossa Nova USA.” We could list many others.
Thanks for this, Hank. A (very) long time ago, my wife and I were introduced at dinner to another couple. The wife was Brazilian, from Rio, and knew all the leading bossa nova and samba musicians personally. She was in the room when Joao Gilberto, American saxophonist Stan Getz, and Antonio Carlos “Tom”Jobim were working out the arrangement of “The Girl from Ipanema,” and when, somewhat on a whim, they asked Gilberto’s wife, Astrud, to add her vocal. The legendary result changed popular music worldwide, made all four of these musicians famous (or in Getz’s case, even more famous) and led to composer Jobim becoming known as “the George Gershwin of Brazil” (the airport in Rio is named for him). SO NICE was composed by one of their friends, Marcos Valle, and as you noted, lyricist/producer Norman Gimbel also wrote English lyrics for Jobim, including for “The Girl from Ipanema”. The evening my wife and I spent with the couple flew by in stories and memories, as I was (and am!) a huge fan of the music: my favorite song in the world is “Dindi”, which Jobim composed.