Jones’ gift for rich orchestrations and Bossa Nova’s floating yet supple rhythms were bound to meet on record. With Quincy’s sharp arrangements for big band, hot percussion and a breezy brass section, the album finds the perfect balance, among other things, to make everything swing.
Featuring musicians of the calibre of Clark Terry (t, flhn), Roland Kirk (fl), Phil Woods (as), Jerome Richardson (fl), Paul Gonsalves (ts) and Jim Hall (g), a baseline quality is assured. Most significantly, Jones goes beyond the expected Jobim and Bonfa cuts to fit Lerner & Loewe and even Mingus into bossa nova’s bright clothes. The authenticity of the album’s Latin American heritage is reinforced by the presence of Lalo Schifrin as pianist and composer. One only has to listen to the sincere and elegant Serenata to realise this is not just meretricious bossa-craze cash-in, nor exotica ephemera. Almost every track here is a classic that you’re bound to have heard somewhere, without realising what it was, not least the now- ubiquitous frequently sampled Soul Bossa Nova.
