Bossa nova music performed for hospice patients

Sun Sentinel (MCT) - Blood pressure rose. Pulses quickened. Temperatures warmed up. In three hospice rooms at Broward General Medical Center, a nurse assistant scribbled down notes on a clipboard as a group of Brazilian women sang "One Note Samba" in Portuguese to patients in their hospital beds.

The ladies of Brazilian Voices, a non-profit cultural group based in Weston, Fla., are out to prove their suspicion: That bossa nova music is good for your health _ and spirit. Through their Arts & Healing program, members of the group sing light-hearted bossa nova classics to sick patients throughout South Florida. Their vital signs are checked before and after.

"We want to bring joy, relaxation, well-being," said Loren Oliveira, founder of the group. "Even if it's just three minutes of well-being."

A friend sparked Oliveira's interest in using music as therapy, and the singers then partnered with the Broward Center for the Performing Arts to get started. They met with hospital staff at Broward General Medical Center and put together the pilot study, which they hope will lead to university research that confirms the healing power of music and, specifically, bossa nova.

The positive health effects of classical music and other traditional genres are recognized nationwide in university music therapy programs. But this, the women believe, would be a first that focuses solely on the samba-jazz genre which gained popularity in the late 1950s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"We thought it was a wonderful idea," said hospice nurse manager Tammy Weidner. "We always see some vital signs go back to normal limits."

The women gathered at the foot of each hospital bed dressed in white with yellow and green scarves, the colors of Brazil.

The first patient, a 65-year-old woman whose name wasn't released to protect her privacy, smiled as they sang and then motioned for more. The six Brazilian singers, plus an American one, circled around her bed and sang "Sandalia de Prata."

The patient's daughter, Melissa Greenbaum, dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

"The music cheers her up, especially since she's been so sad lately," Greenbaum said.

The group avoids bossa nova rhythms with chords that are too high or too low, which tend to trigger melancholy, Oliveira said.

In the second room, Carlos, whose name also was withheld to protect his privacy, said the song reminded him of the days he lived in Rio more than 30 years ago. The 80-year-old patient leaned back in the bed and closed his eyes as they sang the bossa nova anthem "Girl from Ipanema."

"Do you understand what we're singing?" Oliveira asked.

"Um poquinho," he said in stilted Portuguese _ A little bit.

"I used to go there to drink a beer," he said, referring to the famous bar in Rio where the song was composed.

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The third patient, a 64-year-old woman, hardly stirred during the One-note Samba. But that didn't discourage the singers. Tests showed her vital signs had improved.

"Music is good for the body," Oliveira said. "It's good for the soul."

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© 2008, Sun Sentinel.