Brazilian music and the bossa nova are much more than simply something for guitarist Chuck Loeb to play.

They lured him into jazz, took him into a major job in his career, and led him to his wife.

"I love taking a look at the bossa nova," the New York City guitarist says, "because I like the music, but because of the role it played in my life."

He will be dealing with the music side of that story at concerts, but he doesn't ignore the other parts.

Loeb remembers first hearing Stan Getz's famous recording of "Girl From Ipanema" on his parents' car radio when he was in his early teens.

"I liked the music a lot," Loeb, 52, recalls, "but that song, man; it was great to hear about some babe who was 'tall and tan and young and lovely.' "

That led the Nyack, N.Y., resident to serious guitar work which included study with guitar great Jim Hall. He also went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston for a time before the call of a professional career pulled him away.

In 1979, the sax player who fired up Loeb's guitar work invited him to join his band, which led to an important gig on a trip to Spain. Loeb, describing himself as a "22-year-old on the prowl," was performing with Getz in a club when a young woman, Carmen Cuesta, came in to catch the show.

It was the start of a relationship that led to their marriage and also sharing the stage. Cuesta, a singer, is part of Loeb's Brazilian show. They will be joined by bassist Will Lee, keyboardists Rob Mounsey and Matt King, percussionist Cafe, drummer Cliff Almond and saxophonist Eric Marienthal.

This is part of a tour that also is taking him to New York, Boston and Philadelphia and, he hopes, will lead to an album.

"Brazilian music is so rich and so full in many ways," he says talking about the bossa nova and the samba as well as forms that have sagged in comparative popularity such as the choro and the marchinha.

He says its rhythmic richness led him to become a fan of groups such as Weather Report, and also to be fascinated by sax giant Wayne Shorter's work with Brazil's Milton Nascimento on the album "Native Dancer."

Loeb is looking at this tour and his work as a way of broadening what he feels is a misunderstood image. He has worked with groups such as the fusion-bent Steps Ahead and has released some albums that are labeled "smooth."

He believes he is deeper than that. He points to his sideman work and hopes this project will help clarify that.

But he's also not about to apologize for doing music that is popular. It helps pay the bills, he says, even if it doesn't draw comparison to jazz greats such as Joe Pass or Pat Martino.

He points to the popular series of albums done by guitarist Wes Montgomery in the late '60s and early '70s that took his playing and style to listeners who weren't necessarily dedicated to jazz.

Loeb even makes the point that "Girl From Ipanema" could be called the "first smooth jazz recording" because of the way it took Getz, famous as one of Woody Herman's "Four Brothers," to a pop audience.

Such connections make it easier for him to deal with the "smooth" label.

"It's nice company to be in," he says.

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© Copyright 2008, The Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo, Japan