Paris Bossa Nova, Volume 1 is a five-chapter EP by French-American guitarist Ramsay Rawson, each track built on a real, documented piece of music history — from a 1930s Italian melody to a 1959 Cannes-winning film. Together, the five songs trace nearly a century of dialogue between Brazilian music and Paris.
Two threads run through all five chapters
Look closely at the history behind each song, and two recurring characters emerge. The first is Jean Sablon, the French singer who recorded one of the defining 1939 versions of “J’attendrai” — and who moved to Rio de Janeiro that same year, becoming a sensation there years before bossa nova existed as a named genre. The second is “Orfeu da Conceição,” the 1956 stage play by poet Vinicius de Moraes that produced both the film Black Orpheus (the movie that introduced bossa nova to the world) and the standard “Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar,” written by Jobim and Moraes during the same creative period.
The five chapters
- Chapter 1 — Samba Saravah: from Vinicius de Moraes and Baden Powell in Rio, to Pierre Barouh and the Saravah label in Paris.
- Chapter 2 — Le Rendez-vous: a Brazilian ballad that became an Italian hit and a forgotten French B-side.
- Chapter 3 — La Danse d’Orphée: the song from the film that carried bossa nova to the world.
- Chapter 4 — J’attendrai: an Italian tune, a French wartime anthem, and Jean Sablon’s hidden Rio residency.
- Chapter 5 — Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar: born in the same room as Black Orpheus, one of Brazil’s most recorded songs.
Why Paris?
Each of these songs already crossed the Atlantic once, decades before Ramsay Rawson was born. Recorded at Studio BopCity in Paris and mixed in São Paulo, Paris Bossa Nova, Volume 1 doesn’t invent a connection between French and Brazilian music — it picks up a conversation that started with Jean Sablon in 1939 and Pierre Barouh in 1965, and continues it.
FAQ
What is Paris Bossa Nova, Volume 1?
The debut EP by French-American guitarist Ramsay Rawson — five chapters tracing the history of Brazilian music’s dialogue with Paris and France, from the 1930s to today.
Is this a covers EP?
Each chapter reworks a real historical song or its French adaptation — some with new French lyrics written by Rawson himself, publisher-approved.
Where was it recorded?
Studio BopCity, Paris, with Juliano Beccari, Ney Veras, William Brunard and Bertrand Doussain, mixed in São Paulo.
Stream Paris Bossa Nova, Volume 1 on Spotify · Follow Ramsay Rawson · Read the story behind each chapter below
