Nate Najar

t has been 60 years since the release of Jazz Samba, the 1962 landmark album by Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz that launched bossa nova in the United States and predated the best-selling Getz/Gilberto by two years. With Jazz Samba Pra Sempre (Jazz Samba Forever), guitarist Nate Najar pays homage to that groundbreaking album with a “reimagining” of those iconic seven tunes. Playing Charlie Byrd’s own instrument (a gorgeous-sounding 1974 Ramirez 1A nylon string classical guitar), Najar is joined by tenor saxophonist Jeff Rupert, bassist Herman Burney (playing Keter Betts’ bass played on the original Jazz Samba), keyboardist Patrick Bettison on Fender Rhodes electric piano and drummer Chuck Redd (previously of the Charlie Byrd Trio). Brazilian vocalist Daniela Soledade guests on two tracks, Joao Gilberto’s classic “O Pato" and Ary Barroso’s “É Luxo Só.” The results are as dreamy as they are exhilarating.