What is the Bossa Nova?

The Bossa Nova is a type of Brazilian music system, innovated in 1958. The system merges the samba rhythms, typical to traditional Brazilian dance music, with the melodies of jazz. Catching the fancy of college students, this system of fusion reached the peak of popularity between 1958 and 1963. The system contributed a lot of popular songs to the standard set of jazz compositions of that era. Later, Bossa Nova underwent many modifications and enhancements giving rise to several variants. In Europe, electronic music was incorporated in Bossa Nova, producing a new musical system called Bossa Electrica.