"Só Danço Samba" (aka "Jazz 'n' Samba") is a bossa nova song composed in 1962 by Antônio Carlos Jobim, with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. English lyrics were later written by Norman Gimbel. On occasion, it has also been known as "Jazz Samba" and "I Only Dance Samba", an English translation of the original Portuguese title.
In Bossa Nova: The Story of the Brazilian Music That Seduced the World, author Ruy Castro suggests that the song was part of a failed movement to invent a bossa nova dance. "Jobim, who had never danced in his life, had just finished writing 'Só danço samba' [Jazz 'n' Samba] with Vinicius, but it was without much conviction. So much so, in fact, that on hearing 'Só danço samba' for the first time, João Gilberto asked him, 'What's this Tomzinho? A boogie-woogie?'"[1]
The song was first performed by João Gilberto and Os Cariocas in August 1962 at the Au Bon Gourmet restaurant in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, at what Castro calls "the bossa nova show to end all bossa nova shows", as it featured Jobim, Gilberto, Vinícius de Moraes and Os Cariocas on stage together for the first and last time.[1]
A few months later, Gilberto and Os Cariocas performed the song again in the Italian film, Copacabana Palace (1962),[2] in which they are briefly shown singing together.
Elza Laranjeira released the first recording of "Só danço samba" in October 1962.[3]
Recorded versions
Elza Laranjeira – "Só Danço Samba" single (October 1962)
