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Antonio Carlos Jobim

It has been said that Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim was the George Gershwin of Brazil—and there is a solid ring of truth in that, for both contributed large bodies of songs to the jazz repertoire, both expanded their reach into the concert hall, and both tend to symbolize their countries in the eyes of the rest of the world. With their gracefully urbane, sensuously aching melodies and harmonies, Jobim's songs gave jazz musicians in the 1960s a quiet, strikingly original alternative to their traditional Tin Pan Alley source.

Jobim's roots were always planted firmly in jazz; the records of Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Barney Kessel and other West Coast jazz musicians made an enormous impact upon him in the 1950s. But he also claimed that the French impressionist composer Claude Debussy had a decisive influence upon his harmonies, and the Brazilian samba gave his music a uniquely exotic rhythmic underpinning. As a pianist, he usually kept things simple and melodically to the point with a touch that reminds some of Claude Thornhill, but some of his records show that he could also stretch out when given room. His guitar was limited mostly to gentle strumming of the syncopated rhythms, and he sang in a modest, slightly hoarse yet often hauntingly emotional manner.

Born in the Tijuca neighborhood of Rio, Jobim originally was headed for a career as an architect. Yet by the time he turned 20, the lure of music was too powerful, and so he started playing piano in nightclubs and working in recording studios. He made his first record in 1954 backing singer Bill Farr as the leader of "Tom and His Band" (Tom was Jobim's lifelong nickname), and he first found fame in 1956 when he teamed up with poet Vinicius de Morales to provide part of the score for a play called Orfeo do Carnaval (later made into the famous film Black Orpheus). In 1958, the then-unknown Brazilian singer Joao Gilberto recorded some of Jobim's songs, which had the effect of launching the phenomenon known as bossa nova. Jobim's breakthrough outside Brazil occurred in 1962 when Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd scored a surprise hit with his tune "Desafinado"—and later that year, he and several other Brazilian musicians were invited to participate in a Carnegie Hall showcase. Fueled by Jobim's songs, the bossa nova became an international fad, and jazz musicians jumped on the bandwagon recording album after album of bossa novas until the trend ran out of commercial steam in the late '60s.

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History of Jazz

Elis Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim: A Musical Love Story and a Timeless Recording

Read "Elis Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim: A Musical Love Story and a Timeless Recording" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


One of my all-time favorite albums and desert island picks is Elis and Tom (Phillips, 1974), featuring duets by the legendary Antonio Carlos “Tom" Jobim and Elis Regina, an iconic Brazilian singer lesser known in the U.S. who a few years later died of a drug overdose at the age of 36. I'm writing about it now because recently I was listening to some of Jobim's records and took this one off the shelf and played it. I marveled as ...

23
Anatomy of a Standard

"Desafinado" by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Newton Mendonça and Jon Hendricks

Read ""Desafinado" by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Newton Mendonça and Jon Hendricks" reviewed by Tish Oney


There has been a healthy dose of Latin songs that have made their way into the Great American Songbook—after all—Central America and South America are every bit as “American" as the United States. Among the composers of Latin jazz standards, the inimitable guitarist/composer, Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994), stands tall. Jobim composed a great many enduring songs that jazz musicians have latched onto as essential Great American Songbook gems. Newton Mendonça wrote the original Portuguese lyrics, after which the vocalese master, ...

410
Building a Jazz Library

Bossa Nova

Read "Bossa Nova" reviewed by AAJ Staff


In 1959, an unassuming guitarist/vocalist named João Gilberto from the Brazilian state of Bahia started a quiet revolution with his recordings “Chega de Saudade (No More Blues)" and “Desafinado (Off Key)" on the Odeon label. They featured arrangements by a young native of Rio de Janeiro, Antonio Carlos Jobim. Gilberto's whisper-toned, Afro-Indian-influenced Portuguese vocals complemented his unique guitar style, which ingeniously reduced and resyncopated the samba's intricate polyrhythms down to the most essential beats. Jobim expanded Gilberto's harmonies with French ...

157
Reassessing

Antonio Carlos Jobim: Wave

Read "Antonio Carlos Jobim: Wave" reviewed by Chris May


Antonio Carlos JobimWaveCTI/A&M1967 Singer, guitarist, pianist and--above all--composer Antonio Carlos Jobim was among the first artists to be signed by producer Creed Taylor when he set up CTI Records in 1967. The Brazilian, who helped launch bossa nova internationally when his tune “Desafinado" became a Top 10 hit for saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist Charlie Byrd in 1962, had already worked with Taylor (producer of the Getz/Byrd disc), notably on The ...

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Album Review

Antonio Carlos Jobim: Live At Minas

Read "Live At Minas" reviewed by Ernest Barteldes


When one thinks of an Antonio Carlos Jobim record, what comes to mind are either his '60s recordings with João Gilberto and Frank Sinatra, or discs that feature him with a large backing ensemble. However on Live at Minas (recorded live in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 1981 but only made public in 2006), we hear a different side of the composer, in a rare solo concert. The show begins almost with an apology: “I'm not really into ...

387
Album Review

Antonio Carlos Jobim: Symphonic Jobim

Read "Symphonic Jobim" reviewed by Stephen Latessa


Apart from his more widely known accomplishments as a founder of bossa nova and the writer of standards such as “The Girl From Ipanema, “Corcovado, and “Desafinado, Antonio Carlos Jobim harbored an ambition to be a symphonic composer. Symphonic Jobim is a unique project, spearheaded by Paulo Jobim and Mario Adnet, that seeks to spotlight Jobim's efforts in chamber music. The compositions are presented with original arrangements by Jobim himself, along with such notables as Claus Ogerman, Nelson Riddle, and ...

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Shrinktunes

Jobim, Master Therapist

Read "Jobim, Master Therapist" reviewed by Dr. Judith Schlesinger


Antonio Carlos Jobim (January 25, 1927 - December 8, 1994)

The day after Jobim died I was in a store, trying, as usual, to ignore their Muzak. Suddenly they started playing “Ipanema" in one of those murderously perky arrangements. It was so awful, especially coming after all the recent gorgeous airplay of his work, that I didn't know whether to laugh or cry -- “some tribute!" I thought. But then I realized that it truly was: it was ...

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Video / DVD

Backgrounder: Antonio Carlos Jobim's 'Wave'

Backgrounder: Antonio Carlos Jobim's 'Wave'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

The ever beautiful Getz/Gilberto may have been the album that popularized the bossa nova when released in 1964, but Antonio Carlos Jobim's Wave was, for me, its instrumental peer. Both albums were produced by Creed Taylor, the former on Verve and the latter on Creed's CTI imprint at A&M Records. This Jobim masterpiece was arranged by Claus Ogerman and recorded in 1967 on May 22, 23 and 24 and on June 15. Jobim played guitar, piano and harpsichord. Recorded at ...

1

TV / Film

CBS News Eyewitness: The New Beat, 1962

CBS News Eyewitness: The New Beat, 1962

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

On November 21, 1962, at the height of the new youthful presidency of John F. Kennedy, a bossa nova concert was held at New York's Carnegie Hall. The bossa nova had already become a hit in the U.S. thanks to Stan Getz's Jazz Samba released in April of that year. The purpose of the autumn event was to expose the audience to the wider expressions of bossa nova as part of a cultural exchange program. The music had been discovered ...

1

Video / DVD

Timeless And Influential Sounds Of Bossa Nova And Samba Celebrated With Summer Samba!

Timeless And Influential Sounds Of Bossa Nova And Samba Celebrated With Summer Samba!

Source: All About Jazz

As temperatures heat up and summer kicks into high gear, UMe and Verve invite you to kick back, relax and enjoy Summer Samba!, an audio and visual feast for the senses celebrating the timeless and influential sounds of samba and bossa nova. The month-long tribute will pair some of the biggest songs in this soothing and sensual canon with vibrant animated visuals for a host of official music videos, unique visualizers and album cover videos that will be collected together ...

1

Video / DVD

Tom Jobim: Melody Master

Tom Jobim: Melody Master

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

With New York's temperatures down in the 20s today with snow, what better way to warm up than with the late pianist, guitarist and singer-songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim. Millions of people can play his music, but only Jobim had the right time, the romantic heart and the distinct feel. Here are five video clips of the master himself: Here's Jobim in 1964 with pianist João Donato... Here's Jobim at the piano playing Wave... Here's Jobim on an hour-long TV show ...

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Book / Magazine

Hal Leonard Books Publishes "Antonio Carlos Jobim: An Illuminated Man"

Hal Leonard Books Publishes "Antonio Carlos Jobim: An Illuminated Man"

Source: Chris M. Slawecki

MONTCLAIR, N.J.—A half-century ago, Charlie Byrd, Herbie Mann, and others returned from a trip to Brazil with a trove of recordings by Antonio Carlos “Tom" Jobim. Stan Getz listened to them and recorded “Desafinado," which spent 70 weeks on the Billboard charts, and soon thereafter, “The Girl from Ipanema," which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1965. Since then, the global appeal and influence of the bossa nova and Jobim have been undeniable.

In this newly ...

154

Award / Grant

Richard Bona, 7th Winner of the Antonio Carlos Jobim Award

Richard Bona, 7th Winner of the Antonio Carlos Jobim Award

Source: Michael Ricci

Montreal -- Cameroon-born Richard Bona, world renowned bassist and songwriter, will be honoured today by the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal with the Antonio Carlos Jobim Award. The prize will be presented to him by Andre Menard, artistic director and cofounder of the Festival, during a press conference to be held today at 3 p.m. at the Salle Stevie Wonder of the Maison du Festival Rio Tinto Alcan (305, Ste. Catherine St. West, 2nd floor), as well as at ...

414

Recording

Frank Sinatra/Antonio Carlos Jobim Reissue Coming On Concord

Frank Sinatra/Antonio Carlos Jobim Reissue Coming On Concord

Source: conqueroo

Twenty-song set contains the complete 1967 'Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim' album plus all 10 songs from its intended 1969 follow-up, Sinatra/Jobim

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- In 1967, Frank Sinatra teamed up with Brazilian singer, pianist, guitarist, composer and songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim to record an album that married the Chairman's signature vocals with rhythms from the master of bossa nova. The resulting album, Francis Albert Sinatra/Antonio Carlos Jobim, reached #19, remaining on Billboard's rock-dominated album chart for ...

154

Award / Grant

Toots and the Maytals, 6th Winners of the Antonio Carlos Jobim Award

Toots and the Maytals, 6th Winners of the Antonio Carlos Jobim Award

Source: Michael Ricci

Montreal - Reggae pioneers Toots & The Maytals were honoured by the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal with the awarding of the Antonio Carlos Jobim Award. The prize was presented to them by Laurent Saulnier, vice-president of programming of the Festival, on stage at their concert on Thursday night. Toots & The Maytals are the 6th recipients of the Antonio Carlos Jobim Award, created for the Festival’s 25th anniversary to honour artists distinguished in the field of world music ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Antonio Carlos Jobim

Jazz Musician of the Day: Antonio Carlos Jobim

Source: Michael Ricci


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Event

Westchester Jazz Orchestra to Perform Works of Antonio Carlos Jobim on June 7th in Chappaqua

Westchester Jazz Orchestra to Perform Works of Antonio Carlos Jobim on June 7th in Chappaqua

Source: All About Jazz

Westchester, NY -- The Westchester Jazz Orchestra has been called a “local" orchestra “in about the same way as, say, the New York or Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras are local." On June 7, this world-class big band will welcome summer with the works of Antonio Carlos Jobim, who first captivated Americans with his early-1960s mega-hits The Girl from Ipanema and Desafinado. The concert will be held at 8 PM at the Seven Bridges School, 222 Seven Bridges Road, Chappaqua, NY. WBGO's ...

Dina Blade
vocals
Matt Finley
flugelhorn
Manny Cepeda
composer / conductor
Nate Najar
guitar, acoustic
David Jones
saxophone
Ricardo Pinheiro
guitar, electric
Ed Johnson
guitar and vocals
Steve Homan
guitar
Tim Fox
piano
Don Hanson
saxophone
Minas
band / ensemble / orchestra
Dimitri Gollety
composer / conductor
O Som Do Jazz
band / ensemble / orchestra
Brenda Earle Stokes
piano and vocals
Paula Maya
piano and vocals
Daniele Spadavecchia
guitar and vocals
Emi Takada
vocals
Charleston Jazz Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestra
Rodrigo Lima
guitar, acoustic
Allison Au
saxophone, alto
Wilma Baan
vocals
Lucia Fodde
vocals
Rodrigo Simoes
guitar, electric
Angela Turone & Chris Platt
multi-instrumentalist
Frank Bond
guitar
Lounge Jazz
band / ensemble / orchestra
Al Ross and The Planets
band / ensemble / orchestra
Sufiano
composer / conductor
Zach Green
composer / conductor
Luiz Millan
vocals
Kenya Moses
vocals
Joshua King
guitar

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