Bossa 70
Bossa 70
"Bossa 70 was the brainchild of Nilo Espinoza, a Peruvian musician with a Brazilian heart. Nilo, a classically trained musician, was the top flute player in Peru in 1960. In 1961 he was honored with a scholarship to Austria to study his instrument. It was during his five years in Europe that he developed a profound attraction for all forms of jazz. Upon his return to Peru in 1966, Nilo approached the best musicians he could find to form a group to play bossa-nova, the new music craze from Brazil. In 1968, the group changed their name to Bossa 70, to reflect the musical style they were going to offer. Their new singer was Carmen Rosa Basurco, a beautiful woman with an electrifying personality, who could sing in English, Portuguese and Spanish. As a means to promote their new name the group recorded a mini-LP with four fantastic songs (100 copies were pressed and giving as a prize during the concerts and to personal friends and family). In 1970, they recorded an LP for Philips (issued in Peru by El Virrey). The label pressed a mere 300 copies, which were sold quickly. The members went in their own musical directions in 1972 - Enrique "Pico" Ego Aguirre, leader of Los Shain's went on to form the band Pax; Otto De Rojas played keyboards on the Traffic Sound 'Tibbet's Suzettes' album; and Nilo Espinoza formed Nil's Jazz Ensemble, who went on to record the only great jazz funk LP from Peru.