Marcos Valle, music · Paulo Sérgio Valle, lyrics · Norman Gimbel, English lyrics · Written in Rio de Janeiro as Samba de Verão
Summer Samba
Summer Samba is a from Rio de Janeiro, first recorded in 1964 as Samba de Verão. Its step outside the in each section and always return to it. Walter Wanderley's organ version reached the US Top 40 in 1966, and over 140 artists have recorded the song.
Listen in this order
Start with Marcos Valle's 1964 record from Rio, then hear how the song reached the United States in 1966: an organ instrumental, two vocal records, a trumpeter's band and a piano trio. The last two steps are modern vocal versions.
Marcos Valle wrote the song with his brother Paulo Sérgio at their parents' house in Rio de Janeiro. His own record reached number 9 on the Rio pop chart in 1964.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Marcos Valle sings his own song in Portuguese, and the whole record lasts only about two and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody slowly on any instrument over the first eight of , one chord per bar (, Fmaj7, , , , B♭maj7, , E♭7). If the melody is not under your fingers yet, play only the chords and hum the tune.
Walter Wanderley recorded this organ instrumental at Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey in May 1966, with Creed Taylor producing. It reached number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 3 on the Easy Listening chart.
bossa nova
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Wanderley plays the melody on the organ over a gentle beat, so the tune comes through without any words.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody on a keyboard with a steady, held sound, and hold each for its full . Try the second eight bars: , , , and in one bar, , , Gm7, then and in the last bar.
“So Nice (Summer Samba)”, A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness
Astrud Gilberto and the Walter Wanderley trio made this album in New York over four days in September 1966, a few months after Wanderley's own organ record.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Gilberto's voice leads, and Wanderley's organ plays behind her instead of carrying the tune.
Try it on your instrument
Hum the melody while you play only the , one per , so you hear how a voice sits on top of them. Start with the opening eight bars (, Fmaj7, , , , B♭maj7, , E♭7).
Johnny Mathis recorded the song on 7 July 1966 for his own album So Nice, with Mort Stevens arranging and conducting. The single reached number 17 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Mathis sings the English words with an arranged backing behind him, and the voice stays in front the whole way.
Try it on your instrument
Hum the melody one phrase at a time, taking a breath where a singer would, over the opening (, Fmaj7, , , , B♭maj7, , E♭7).
“Summer Samba (Samba de Verao)”, The Melody Lingers On
Dizzy Gillespie put the song on his 1966 Limelight album The Melody Lingers On, with James Moody and Kenny Barron in the band.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Gillespie's trumpet carries the melody, and James Moody joins on saxophone and flute around him.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody on a horn or any single-note instrument and leave a short rest at the end of each phrase, as a trumpeter breathes. If you can also play , add the second eight (, , , , , , Gm7, ).
Ramsey Lewis recorded it in Chicago in December 1966 for his Latin-flavored album Goin' Latin, with Cleveland Eaton on bass and Maurice White on drums. The album reached number 2 on Billboard's jazz albums chart.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Lewis's piano leads, with the bass and drums keeping a steady beat underneath.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody with the right hand and one per with the left, keeping the beat even like a bass and drums would. Try the opening eight bars first (, Fmaj7, , , , B♭maj7, , E♭7).
Patricia Barber recorded it in Chicago in May 2000 for her album Nightclub, singing and playing piano herself.
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
Listen for
Barber sings and plays piano herself, so one person holds the voice and the together.
Try it on your instrument
Hum or sing the melody while you play the on piano, one per , so your voice and your hands share the song. Try the last eight bars: , , , , , , , then Gm7 and in the final bar.
Marcos Valle records the song in Rio in 1964. In 1966 Walter Wanderley's organ version reaches the US Top 40, and several singers record it that year.
2000s
Patricia Barber records it in Chicago in May 2000, and the Brazilian musician Eliane Elias sings it on her 2004 album Dreamer.
More great versions
2 more, from 1968 to 2009. Tap a cover to play it here.
1960sOscar Peterson Trio1968
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000sDiana Krall2009 · Bossa nova
Oscar Peterson Trio
1968
The Lamp Is Low
Oscar Peterson's trio played the song live in Vienna on 9 November 1968, with Sam Jones on bass and Bobby Durham on drums. It first came out in 1994 on The Lamp Is Low.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
F majorusual key
32 barsA · B · A · C form
F majorkey centers
A8 bars
B8 bars
A8 bars
C8 bars
F
The tune runs 32 in four sections and stays in . Section A opens on two bars of , then and lead to for two bars and for two more. Section B starts on and , goes on to , and , then , and Gm7, and to in the last bar brings the tune back to A. After the second A, section C begins like B with Am7, D7♭9 and Gm7, then leads to Fmaj7, and , and a closing Gm7 and C7 set up the repeat. These follow the iReal Pro chart.