Greatest Antonio Carlos Jobim Songs: 20 Brazilian Classics
Antonio Carlos Jobim, higher often called “Tom Jobim” in his homeland, is arguably some of the necessary songwriters of the twentieth century, rivaling Gershwin, Porter, McCartney & Lennon, and Surprise for sheer consistency and variety of output. The sheer variety of cowl variations in circulation for the reason that 60s retains Jobim related globally amongst jazz and pop musicians. Whereas Jobim will ceaselessly be related to the Bossa Nova style he helped create alongside Vinicius de Moraes and João Gilberto, his legacy can’t be contained in a single style.
Born right into a middle-class household in Rio de Janeiro, the younger Jobim performed piano in bars and nightclubs earlier than graduating into the bustling Rio recording trade within the mid-’50s. In 1956, he teamed up with poet and diplomat Vinicius de Moraes to put in writing the music for the play Orfeu da Conceição, which later turned hit arthouse movie Black Orpheus in 1959. It was round this time that João Gilberto confirmed up in Rio with a revolutionary new model that may quickly be dubbed Bossa Nova, with Jobim’s compositions fueling Gilberto’s profession in these early years.
Hearken to the perfect Antonio Carlos Jobim songs on Apple Music and Spotify.
The Bossa Nova introduced Jobim to the US in 1962 the place he stayed on and off for the remainder of his life, recording albums for Verve, Warner Brothers, Reprise, A&M/CTI, MCA, and Columbia in addition to a handful of duet and ensemble albums launched solely in Brazil. Past his signature tune, “The Woman from Ipanema,” Jobim penned a majority of the best-known Brazilian songs to crossover into worldwide pop and jazz.
As a composer, arranger, pianist, and vocalist, Antonio Carlos Jobim may be heard on not solely his personal recordings, but additionally shut collaborators and duet companions like Frank Sinatra, Elis Regina, and Sergio Mendes. Selecting merely 20 songs to summarize his profession is an not possible process, however the next recordings (all Jobim compositions) are a number of the finest variations of his songs.
Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Breakthrough Bossa Nova Songs
(“A Felicidade,” “Chega de Saudade,” “One Observe Samba,” “Insensatez (How Insensitive),” “The Woman from Ipanema”)
The Rio de Janeiro music scene that birthed the Bossa Nova was awful with proficient composers like Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal, Baden Powell, João Donato, and extra, however it could not be hyperbole to think about a “Best Hits of Bossa Nova” composed completely of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s finest songs. That’s how a lot his musical presence outlined the period. Between 1958 and 1968 Jobim composed numerous classics.
“A Felicidade” (The Happiness) is one in all Jobim’s most iconic tunes that memorably anchors the movie Black Orpheus. In the event you haven’t seen the film, do your self a favor and delight in its technicolor surprise and good soundtrack. Historians pinpoint the primary music containing the entire parts that outline Bossa Nova as Elizeth Cardoso’s recording of the Jobim-De Moraes composition “Chega de Saudade” (No Extra Blues) with João Gilberto on guitar and Jobim on piano and preparations from 1958. Inside a number of years of João Gilberto’s debut album in 1958, his imported albums traded fingers amongst the hippest jazz gamers in New York and Los Angeles, resulting in the flautist Herbie Mann’s 1962 journey to file in Rio de Janeiro the place he invited Jobim to sing (for the primary time on wax) on his personal music, “One Observe Samba.”
Later that 12 months Jobim starred in Bossa Nova’s popping out get together at Carnegie Corridor. He stayed within the US and began his solo recording profession in 1963 together with his instrumental album for Verve, together with the basic “Insensatez (Insensitive)” together with his signature spare piano enjoying. The album additionally marked the start of a decades-long partnership with arranger Claus Ogerman. “The Woman from Ipanema” in its iconic rendition by João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, and Stan Getz was recorded later in 1963 and featured Jobim once more on piano, however wasn’t launched till 1964 and earned a Grammy for Report of the 12 months in 1965.
The Stateside Songs
(“Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Corcovado),” “Bonita,” “Surfboard,” “Desafinado,” “Stone Flower”)
The runaway success of “The Woman from Ipanema” solidified Antonio Carlos Jobim’s worldwide profession. He wrote all however two songs of the songs on the total size from which the hit emerged, Getz/Gilberto, together with the beloved ode to the Rio de Janeiro peak upon which the enormous Christ statue stands: “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Corcovado).” By the mid-’60s Jobim was a scorching commodity within the US, securing him a profitable recording profession within the US with Warner, first with red-velvet romantic tunes just like the English-language Bossa Nova “Bonita.”
His 1967 album includes a new batch of prompt classics just like the easy-listening rerecording of “Surfboard” with assist from organist Dick Hyman and preparations by Claus Ogerman. Jobim tackles one in all his most excellent tunes, “Off Key (Desafinado)” together with his charmingly imperfect voice and the buoyant assist of Ogerman’s hovering association.
After leaving Warner Brothers, Jobim expanded his musical imaginative and prescient for his subsequent three albums recorded for A&M/CTI with longer compositions, extra jazz musicians, and a extra cinematic model. “Stone Flower,” the title observe from his 1970 album is an ideal instance of this subsequent section in his profession, a moody baião rhythm from the northeast of Brazil anchored by Ron Carter on bass and Airto Moreira on percussion. This new sound appealed to a complete new technology of music lovers, like Carlos Santana who selected to cowl this music a number of years later.
Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Duets & Collaborations
(“Ela é Carioca,” “Água de Beber,” “Dindi,” “Águas de Março,” “Samba do Soho”)
Antonio Carlos Jobim didn’t simply compose basic songs, he usually concerned himself within the recordings of his songs by associates and fellow musicians each in Brazil and within the US. Earlier than he’d change into a minor superstar within the States, he organized a few of his songs for his mentee, Sergio Mendes’ good samba-jazz album launched in 1964, together with a jazzy model of “Ela E Carioca.” Using the wave of “The Woman From Ipanema”, unsuspecting star vocalist Astrud Gilberto discovered herself recording for Verve. For her first album in 1965, she leaned on Jobim for songs, ethical assist, some background vocals, and piano, most fantastically on his tune, “Água de Beber.”
1967 was an excellent 12 months for Jobim with three albums bearing his identify, together with his historic collaboration with Frank Sinatra. Whereas the second of Jobim’s album-length collaborations with The Chairman wasn’t formally launched throughout both of their lifetimes, it’s value noting that Sinatra by no means devoted a couple of album to a specific composer except for Jobim. “Dindi” completely fits Sinatra’s languid supply with Jobim’s mild guitar urging the singer alongside. Their first collaboration acquired a Grammy nomination for Album of the 12 months in 1968.
Recorded in 1973 in Los Angeles, Elis & Tom is worthy of all of the accolades if just for their duet model on one in all Jobim’s best songs, “Águas de Março,” or “Waters of March.” Not in contrast to the vocal simpatico between Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald, Jobim and Regina have a scrumptious vocal chemistry and as soon as it’s married to a masterwork of composition, “Aguas de Março” turns into one of many best performances ever dedicated to tape. Relocating to New York, “Samba do Soho” is an effervescent composition from his 1987 album, Passarim.
The Moody Actions
(“Valsa de Porto Das Caixas,” “Wave,” “Kids’s Recreation,” “Sabiá,” “Ligia”)
Antonio Carlos Jobim cited Debussy and Ravel alongside the Brazilian composers Ary Barosso and Heitor Villa-Lobos as a few of his major influences. These 5 songs display his classical lineage and talent to conjure a temper, whether or not it’s pensiveness (“Valsa de Porto das Caixas”), nostalgia (“Wave”), naivety (“Kids’s Recreation”), melancholy (“Sabía”), or craving (“Ligia”).
Jobim snuck “Valsa de Porto das Caixas,” a fantastic, spare instrumental ballad onto his first album for Warner Brothers, wedged between future bossa nova requirements. Missing each drums and guitar, this contemporary basic composition is delivered to life by simply flute, cello, and piano. “Wave” is one in all Jobim’s most celebrated songs, a joyous instrumental that later gained lyrics and numerous cowl variations. On the 1967 album of the identical identify, Jobim first manifested his grander imaginative and prescient for his music, shifting away from jazz and pop and nearer to classical recordings with a big string part and masterful arranger and conductor in Claus Ogerman.
“Kids’s Recreation” was initially written for the big-budget flop, The Adventurers, however the model he recorded for his personal album, Stone Flower, is superior with its dreamy piano and playful percussion conjuring-up school-yard rhymes and childhood whimsy. Jobim collaborated with a variety of totally different lyricists through the years, together with Chico Buarque de Hollanda, who wrote the lyrics to “Sabía,” referring to Brazil’s nationwide hen (a sort of thrush) whereas exiled in Italy in 1968.
“Ligia” is a devastating torch ballad with an beautiful association by Claus Ogerman (but once more) that wears its heartbreak on its sleeve – it’s a disgrace Frank Sinatra by no means recorded this one. Recorded for his 1976 album Urubu, “Ligia” is one other Jobim tune to earn normal standing with its numerous variations recorded in Brazil and past.
Assume we’ve missed among the finest Antonio Carlos Jobim songs? Tell us within the feedback part beneath.
For the most recent music information and unique options, take a look at uDiscover Music.
uDiscover Music is operated by Common Music Group (UMG). Some recording artists included in uDiscover Music articles are affiliated with UMG.