Bossa nova was largely unknown in popular music circles outside of Brazil—it wasn’t even particularly well known in its home country—when a lineup of Brazilian superstars teamed up with American saxophonist Stan Getz to roll the lilting fusion of Brazilian samba and West Coast “cool jazz” onto one of the biggest concert stages in the world. João Gilberto, Luiz Bonfá, and Sérgio Mendes were among the many performers who gathered that night on November 21, 1962, to shine the spotlight on bossa nova in New York and beyond.

Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil recalled the impact of the evening in Brazil, when word of the event and the bossa nova sound was spread in the American and then the Brazilian press: "The reaction was so good that we just could not ignore it in Brazil. Somehow, it was a surprise for us, too, because at that stage the bossa nova movement in Brazil was not so big yet … [The concert] was fundamental for the spreading of Brazilian music in America and worldwide."