There are some performances that don’t rely on spectacle to make an impression. When Stan Getz played “Desafinado” live on The Shirley Bassey Show in 1976, it wasn’t a headline-grabbing moment or a chart-topping release — but it quietly reflected just how far bossa nova had travelled.
For Getz, this was a piece of music he had carried with him for well over a decade. For audiences in Britain, it was a rare chance to hear one of the most recognisable sounds of 1960s jazz — not in a concert hall or smoky club, but on a prime-time BBC television show.
The clip that remains today offers not only a performance, but a small snapshot of how a single tune can shift musical landscapes.
Bossa nova on British TV
By the mid to late 1970s, bossa nova had already passed its initial wave of global novelty and settled into something more established.
Stan Getz had been central to that story. His 1962 album Jazz Samba, made with guitarist Charlie Byrd, was the record that introduced a new Brazilian rhythm to American listeners.
Two years later, “The Girl from Ipanema” brought that sound into homes around the world.
But the reach of this music was more than just a passing trend. A decade later, here it was — in an entirely different cultural space. British TV variety programmes often welcomed big American guests, but they were more commonly filled with pop singers, cabaret acts and show tunes.
A slow, rhythmically understated piece like “Desafinado” was unusual in that context.
That contrast is part of what makes the performance fascinating. It reflects a period when jazz, pop and international sounds were finding their way onto mass-market television, giving audiences outside of jazz circles a glimpse of something subtler and more layered.
Why “Desafinado” matters
“Desafinado” — meaning “Out of Tune” — was composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Newton Mendonça in 1959, just as bossa nova was beginning to crystallise in Brazil.
The name itself is slightly ironic: Jobim chose it partly to tease critics who dismissed the new style as being sung “out of tune.” The melody, however, is carefully crafted — understated, flowing and gently syncopated.
The song became one of the first bossa nova pieces to break through internationally.
Getz recorded it in 1962 with Byrd on Jazz Samba, an album that would go on to top the Billboard charts — something almost unthinkable at the time for an instrumental jazz recording.
That version remains one of the clearest examples of how effectively Getz could fuse the melodic economy of bossa nova with the improvisational language of modern jazz.
Part of the song’s power lies in its deceptive simplicity. The harmony moves in subtle shifts, with soft rhythmic emphasis rather than percussive drive. It sits in a gentle tempo range that leaves space — space for phrasing, for tone, for silence between notes. Getz, whose sound was famously warm and centred, was perfectly matched to that environment.
Stan Getz’s BBC performance
On The Shirley Bassey Show, Getz steps into a setting quite different from the jazz clubs and concert halls where the tune had first gained recognition.
He stands with a small group, separate from the larger house orchestra. There are no big introductions, no elaborate lighting changes, no theatrical gestures — just a few bars of rhythm, a familiar harmonic shape, and that unmistakable tenor sound.
It’s a performance defined not by reinvention but by presence. Getz doesn’t stretch the tune into virtuosic display. He phrases economically, allowing the shape of the melody to carry most of the work. His tone is steady and controlled, with the faint breathiness that became a hallmark of his playing.
For anyone familiar with the 1962 recording, it’s instantly recognisable. For viewers at the time — many of whom would have encountered the music in passing rather than seeking it out — it was likely a quiet surprise: something elegant and unhurried on a programme usually devoted to variety acts.
A bridge between worlds
This short television appearance carries more weight than its length might suggest.
It shows how bossa nova, which emerged from a small artistic movement in Rio, became part of the global musical language. It also shows how Getz’s voice on the saxophone — cool, lyrical, restrained — had become something instantly recognisable.
For Getz himself, “Desafinado” wasn’t just another standard. It had been a turning point in his career.
The success of Jazz Samba and his subsequent collaborations with João and Astrud Gilberto defined a large part of his public image. Returning to the tune years later on television wasn’t a nostalgic gesture so much as a reaffirmation of something fundamental to his sound.
Why it still resonates
Looking back now, it’s easy to underestimate the cultural reach of these kinds of performances.
But moments like this contributed to a wider perception of jazz and bossa nova as international forms — music that didn’t need translation.
A softly phrased melody on a British TV show could carry with it echoes of Rio and New York without a single word being spoken.
For many fans, clips like this offer more than just a good performance.
They’re small historical windows. They show how a style that began as a local Brazilian scene moved into the centre of global listening habits — and how a single tune became both a calling card for a movement and a personal signature for one of its greatest interpreters.
Join the conversation
More than sixty years after it was written, “Desafinado” remains one of the best-known pieces of bossa nova. For some listeners, it’s a gentle introduction to the style. For others, it’s a tune they’ve heard in countless versions but never tire of.
What does this particular performance bring to mind for you?
Is it a favourite interpretation — or does another recording of “Desafinado” stand out more strongly?
Looking for more? Check out our pick of 10 essential Stan Getz albums.