One Note Samba

"Samba de Uma Nota Só" ("One Note Samba") is a song composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim with Portuguese lyrics by Newton Mendonça. The English lyrics were written by Jobim.

The song title refers to the main melody line, which at first consists of a long series of notes of a single tone played in a bossa nova rhythm (typically D, as played in the key of G). The first eight measures consist of D, followed by four measures of G, and then four measures of D. This is followed by eight measures of a more varied melody line.

This well-known song first reached a wide audience on the Grammy-winning bossa nova LP Jazz Samba (Getz/Byrd/Jobim)^[1], which reached the number one spot on the Billboard 200 in 1963^[2]. Another well-known release is the Sergio Mendes-Brasil '66 version, in medley with "Spanish Flea."

Notable Recordings

• Caterina Valente - Caterina Valente Live 1968
• Sylvia Telles - Amor Em Hi-Fi (1960)
• Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd - Jazz Samba (1962)
• Herbie Mann and Tom Jobim - Do the Bossa Nova (1962)
• Quincy Jones - Big Band Bossa Nova (1962)
• Antonio Carlos Jobim - The Composer of Desafinado, Plays (1963)
• Eydie Gormé - Blame It On The Bossa Nova (1963)
• June Christy - Something Broadway, Something Latin (1965)
• Sérgio Mendes - Herb Alpert Presents Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66 (1966)
• Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim - Sinatra & Company (1967)
• Perrey and Kingsley - Kaleidoscopic Vibrations: Spotlight on the Moog (1967)
• Barbra Streisand (in a medley with "Johnny One Note") - Barbra Streisand...And Other Musical Instruments (1973)
• Kaye Ballard & Miss Piggy in an episode of "The Muppet Show"
• Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Abraça Jobim, Pablo, (1981)
• Stereolab Herbie Mann - Red Hot + Rio (1996)
• Bossacucanova - Revisited Classics (1998)
• Stereolab - Aluminum Tunes (1998)
• Bebel Gilberto Vinicius Cantuaria - Next Stop Wonderland (1998)
• Eumir Deodato & Barbara Mendes - OST from Bossa Nova (film) (2000)
• Al Jarreau - Expressions (2001)
• Olivia Ong - A Girl Meets BossaNova 2 (2006)
• The Postmarks - By the Numbers (2008)
• Percy Faith - Latin Themes for Young Lovers (1965)

Notes

1. ^ 1963 Grammy Awards
2. ^ Jazz Samba#Chart_positions

See also

• List of bossa nova standards