Not only Charlie Byrd traveled to Brazil in 1961. Herbie Mann, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Kenny Durham, Zoot Sims, Paul Winter and several others toured and performed in Brazil at the beginning of the 1960s, either sponsored by the U.S. State Department or by individual promoters.
Herbie Mann recorded "Baia" in 1957 with guitarist Laurindo Almeida and was most likely the first American to cut a whole album of bossa nova music (Brazil, Bossa Nova and Blues, United Artists) in late 1961 or early 1962. Unlike Jazz Samba, real Brazilians (Jose DePaula and Carmen Costas) were involved. …Mann returned to Brazil in October 1962 where he recorded several sessions with Brazilian musicians, including Baden Powell, Sergio Mendes and Antonio Carlos Jobim (Do the Bossa Nova, Atlantic).
“Saxophonist Paul Winter visited Brazil in 1962, where he performed and did some recording. The resultant LP, some of which was recorded in Washington DC, was called Jazz Meets Bossa Nova. In 1964, Winter returned to Brazil where he recorded two more LPs of bossa jazz.
Fred Patterson, “Highlights: Jazz Samba,”
Brazilian Music Day, The ARChive of Contemporary Music, September 7, 2012