Since the beginnings of jazz music in America in the early 20th century, jazz has been a purely American form of music. It began with marches led by John Philip Sousa, an American composer. This evolved into the collective improvisation period of the 1920s, which gave rise to greats like New Orleans-born Louis Armstrong. Around the same time as Armstrong's fame was that of Duke Ellington, who was born and raised in Washington, DC. This model of jazz evolution originating in America was the norm for almost sixty years; However, everything changed in the late 1950s, when there was an explosion of South American music. This Brazilian music, which itself had been evolving for years in its home country, combined with the music and forms of American jazz, created one of the most unique and interesting styles of jazz music that the America has never known: bossa nova. Bossa nova ("new style" or "new trend"), one of the first styles of jazz without a direct American origin, influenced American music by using its ideas and sounds, but also by moving away from the new style Brazilian. a subgenre of Latin jazz, originating largely in Latin America. There are some major differences between Latin jazz and straight jazz. First, percussion is more often featured solo in Latin jazz music. Additionally, the percussion in this form of jazz is extremely varied, using congas, bongos, claves, timpani, and much more auxiliary percussion than the classic drumming of straight jazz. Also, Latin jazz uses straight eighth notes instead of swung eighth notes. A very important characteristic of Latin jazz and bossa nova music is the clave rhythm. This rhythm consists of a five-beat syncopated rhythm which forms the backbone of the almost...... middle of paper ......aAGh.dpbs.Goldschmitt, Kariann. “Doing Bossa Nova: The Curious Life of a Social Dance in 1960s North America.” Luso-Brazilian Review 48, no. 1 (2011): 63-64. Guthrie, Woody. “This land is your land.” Recorded 1944, 1945. Holston, Mark. “Still Bossa after all these years.” Hispanic 22, no. 1 (2009): 66-67. Mendes, Sergio and The Black Eyed Peas, “Mas Que Nada”. Recorded 2005, Concord, 2006. Miles, Barry. Paul McCartney: Many years from now. London: Secker and Warburg, 1997. Prosser, Lee. Review of Amorosa, by Rosa Passos, Sony Classical, 2004, http://www.jazzreview.com/cd-reviews/brazilian-jazz-brazilian-pop-jazz-cd-reviews/amorosa-by-rosa-passos. html .Shakira. “Get An If”. Recorded in 2005, Epic Records, 2005. Sinatra, Francis Albert and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Recorded in 1967, Reprise, 1967, compact disc.