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This chapter analyzes the initial proliferation of bossa nova in the United States and United Kingdom in the early 1960s, primarily as a jazz and dance fad. By using material culled from top English-language periodicals of the era, it traces the popularity of bossa nova in the United States from its adoption by jazz musicians in the early 1960s, the invention of a dance to accompany the musical trend, and the ultimate rejection of bossa nova by purists in the jazz press. It also shows how the style’s initial popularity was partially due to the divisive racial politics that had overtaken jazz in that era, allowing the Otherness of bossa nova to temporarily offer an alternative for jazz musicians and fans.

This chapter details the transition of the bossa nova from ubiquitous fad to music for an older demographic to explain how the music became associated with seduction and the easy listening format. It features an analysis on the use of bossa nova in three films that feature international espionage and travel, with a focus on the pairing of bossa nova with moments of seduction and the postwar crisis in masculinity. It also traces the legacy of Astrud Gilberto’s career in the United States following the breakout success of her appearance on the recording of “The Girl from Ipanema” with Stan Getz and João Gilberto, and her influence on the extended legacy of bossa nova after its peak in popularity.

The chapter analyzes the relationship between representations of youth identity and musical movements in Brazil during the 1960s. During that period the country was undergoing a series of political and socioeconomic transformations that stimulated a debate on the role of youth in the historical process. From 1964 onward, the right-wing military regime intensified this debate further by implementing modernizing capitalist policies in an authoritarian climate. By analyzing the three different youth identities mentioned in the title of this chapter, it is possible to identify the different symbolic responses and the cultural interventions of youth during that specific historical moment concurrent with the structuring of the modern music industry. The latter was the vehicle and articulator of youth identities because much of the cultural debate was centered upon the Brazilian popular music scene.

This chapter introduces Richard Rodney Bennett's A Garland for Marjory Fleming for the young, relatively inexperienced performer. Here, the five songs are perfectly balanced to provide contrast of pace and mood. The supple vocal lines are not perhaps quite as simple as they may first appear: rhythms contain a few surprises, and subtle shadings underpin key moments in the text. The central song, ‘On Jessy Watsons Elopement’, in particular, requires good rhythmic articulation and some breadth of range and dynamic. The final piece, ‘Sonnet on a Monkey’, is a gem of artfulness and grace, sure to charm audiences, bringing the cycle to an end in exuberant, tongue-in-cheek vein.