BOSSA NOVA

(Portuguese: new trend), Brazilian popular music that evolved in the late 1950s from a union of samba (a Brazilian dance and music) and cool jazz. The music is in syncopated 2/4 time. Instrumentation is varied and purposely simple, limited to a few rhythm instruments, e.g., guitar, marimbau (musical bow), drum, or a single-note piano accompaniment. In vocalized passages the musical background becomes more subdued to allow the singer greater range for improvisation. As a dance, the bossa nova differs little from the samba, requiring the same subtle body rhythm and two-step foot movement.