Samba, as we know it, was fully developed in the 1920's through composers like Donga, Pixinguinha and Ismael Silva, and in the 30s through Garoto, a virtuous guitarist that already played something similar to a proto-bossa nova. But in the 1950's, 60's and beyond modern samba was only possible thanks to the great intuition of Edison Machado and the creation of his "samba no prato" (samba rhythm conducted by cymbals).

Read more about Edison Machado on Last.fm.