Artist Biography
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.
Jobim himself
preferred the recording studios to touring, making several lovely albums
of his music as a pianist, guitarist and singer for Verve, Warner Bros., Discovery, A&M, CTI and MCA in the '60s and '70s, and Verve again in the last decade of his life. Early
on, he started collaborating with arranger/conductor Claus Ogerman,
whose subtle, caressing, occasionally moody charts gave his records a
haunting ambiance. When
Brazilian music was in its American eclipse after the '60s, a victim of
overexposure and the burgeoning rock revolution, Jobim retreated more
into the background, concentrating much energy upon film and TV scores
in Brazil. But
by 1985, as the idea of world music and a second Brazilian wave
gathered steam, Jobim started touring again with a group containing his
second wife Ana Lontra, his son Paulo, daughter Elizabeth and various
musician friends. At
the time of his final concerts in Brazil in September 1993 and at
Carnegie Hall in April 1994 (both available on Verve), Jobim at last was
receiving the universal recognition he deserved, and a plethora of
tribute albums and concerts followed in the wake of his sudden death in
New York City of heart failure. Jobim's
reputation as one of the great songwriters of the century is now
secure, nowhere more so than on the jazz scene where every other set
seems to contain at least one bossa nova.
Composer Antonio Carlos Jobim AKA Tom Jobim was born on January 25, 1927 in Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He
showed a natural curiosity towards music early on and at age 13
discovered an old piano in his parents’ school and started experimenting
with sounds and notes. Although he took some private piano lessons he was for the most part self-taught. At age 20 he gave up on his original plans to become an architect and devoted himself completely to music. He started his career in 1952 playing piano in small cafes around the city. His early musical influences included the legendary composer Pixinguinha, Claude Debussy and jazz. In 1954 he cut his first record with his band called “Tom and His Band” backing the singer Bill Farr. The
same year he apprenticed to arranger Radames Gnatali from whom he
learned the rudiments of arranging and shifted careers and for a while
and became an arranger for local singers. In
1956 he collaborated with poet and diplomat Vinicius de Moraes on an
operetta entitled Orfeo do Carnaval that opened to great acclaim at the
Metropolitan Opera House in Rio. The French director Marcel Camus transferred it to the big screen under the title Black Orpheus. The film was honored by the Cannes Film Festival with a Palme D’Or in 1959. His first hit was Felicidade from this operetta. The song gained immense popularity when Billy Eckstine added English lyrics to it in the late 1950s. Moraes and Jobim also teamed up on other hits including Girl from Ipanema and Agua de Beber among others. In
1958 Brazilian guitarist and vocalist Joao Gilberto released a record
of Jobim songs that marked the beginning of the bossa nova phenomenon. 1962
marked an important change in Jobim’s career when he broke out into the
world scene after Stan Getz popularized his tune “Desafinado”. He and his colleagues were invited to perform at Carnegie Hall and the popularity of the bossa nova took off. From
1962 till the end of the 60s various jazz musicians recorded multitude
of bossa nova albums. Jobim himself, in addition to becoming one of the
most recorded composers, cut several albums for a variety of labels
often in collaboration with Claus Ogerman. The 1970s and 80s marked a time of low popularity for jazz and for Brazilian music due to the rock explosion. Jobim returned to Brazil and worked on TV and film scores. By
1985 though bossa nova and Brazilian music experienced a renaissance
and Jobim started touring again performing up to few months before his
death in New York City of heart failure on December 8 1994.
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Biografía del artista
Se ha dicho que
Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim era el George Gershwin de
Brasil, y hay un sólido anillo de verdad en que, dado que ambos
contribuyeron con grandes cantidades de canciones al repertorio de jazz,
ambos ampliaron su alcance a la sala de conciertos y ambos tienden a
simbolizar a sus países a los ojos del resto del mundo. Con
sus melodías y armonías grácilmente urbanas y sensualmente dolorosas,
las canciones de Jobim dieron a los músicos de jazz de los años sesenta
una alternativa silenciosa y sorprendentemente original a su fuente
tradicional de Tin Pan Alley.
Las raíces de Jobim
siempre estuvieron firmemente arraigadas en el jazz; los discos de Gerry
Mulligan, Chet Baker, Barney Kessel y otros músicos de jazz de la costa
oeste le causaron un enorme impacto en la década de 1950. Pero
también afirmó que el compositor impresionista francés Claude Debussy
tuvo una influencia decisiva en sus armonías, y que la samba brasileña
le dio a su música una base rítmica excepcionalmente exótica. Como
pianista, solía mantener las cosas simples y melódicas hasta el punto
con un toque que recuerda a Claude Thornhill, pero algunos de sus discos
muestran que también podía estirarse cuando se le daba espacio. Su
guitarra se limitaba sobre todo a un suave rasgueo de los ritmos
sincopados, y cantaba de una manera modesta, ligeramente ronca, pero a
menudo de una manera inquietantemente emocional.
Nacido en el barrio de Tijuca, en Río de Janeiro, Jobim comenzó su carrera como arquitecto. Sin
embargo, cuando cumplió 20 años, la atracción de la música era
demasiado poderosa, así que empezó a tocar el piano en clubes nocturnos y
a trabajar en estudios de grabación. Hizo
su primer disco en 1954 con el cantante Bill Farr como líder de "Tom
and His Band" (Tom era el apodo de toda la vida de Jobim), y encontró
fama en 1956 cuando se asoció con el poeta Vinicius de Morales para
formar parte de la partitura de una obra de teatro llamada Orfeo do
Carnaval (que más tarde se convertiría en la famosa película Black
Orpheus). En
1958, el entonces desconocido cantante brasileño Joao Gilberto grabó
algunas de las canciones de Jobim, lo que tuvo el efecto de lanzar el
fenómeno conocido como bossa nova. El
gran avance de Jobim fuera de Brasil ocurrió en 1962 cuando Stan Getz y
Charlie Byrd lograron un éxito sorprendente con su canción
"Desafinado", y más tarde ese mismo año, él y varios otros músicos
brasileños fueron invitados a participar en un concierto en el Carnegie
Hall. Impulsado
por las canciones de Jobim, la bossa nova se convirtió en una moda
internacional, y los músicos de jazz se subieron al carro de la
grabación álbum tras álbum de bossa novas hasta que la tendencia se
agotó a finales de los años sesenta.
Jobim mismo prefirió
los estudios de grabación a las giras, haciendo varios álbumes de su
música como pianista, guitarrista y cantante para Verve, Warner Bros., Discovery, A&M, CTI y MCA en los'60s y'70s, y Verve nuevamente en la última década de su vida. Desde
el principio, comenzó a colaborar con el arreglista y director de
orquesta Claus Ogerman, cuyos sutiles, acariciantes y ocasionalmente
malhumorados gráficos le dieron a sus discos un ambiente inolvidable. Cuando
la música brasileña estaba en su eclipse americano después de los años
60, víctima de la sobreexposición y de la floreciente revolución del
rock, Jobim se retiró más a un segundo plano, concentrando mucha energía
en las partituras de cine y televisión en Brasil. Pero
en 1985, cuando la idea de la música del mundo y una segunda ola
brasileña se intensificó, Jobim comenzó a viajar de nuevo con un grupo
que incluía a su segunda esposa Ana Lontra, su hijo Paulo, su hija
Elizabeth y varios amigos músicos. En
el momento de sus últimos conciertos en Brasil en septiembre de 1993 y
en el Carnegie Hall en abril de 1994 (ambos disponibles en Verve), Jobim
recibía por fin el reconocimiento universal que se merecía, y una
plétora de álbumes homenaje y conciertos le siguieron tras su repentina
muerte en la ciudad de Nueva York a causa de una insuficiencia cardíaca. La
reputación de Jobim como uno de los grandes compositores del siglo ya
está asegurada, sobre todo en la escena del jazz, donde cada uno de los
otros conjuntos parece contener al menos una bossa nova.
El compositor Antonio Carlos Jobim alias Tom Jobim nació el 25 de enero de 1927 en Tijuca, Río de Janeiro, Brasil. Mostró
una curiosidad natural por la música desde muy joven y a los 13 años
descubrió un viejo piano en la escuela de sus padres y comenzó a
experimentar con sonidos y notas. Aunque tomó algunas clases privadas de piano, era en su mayor parte autodidacta. A los 20 años abandonó sus planes originales de convertirse en arquitecto y se dedicó por completo a la música. Comenzó su carrera en 1952 tocando el piano en pequeños cafés de la ciudad. Sus primeras influencias musicales incluyeron al legendario compositor Pixinguinha, Claude Debussy y el jazz. En 1954 grabó su primer disco con su banda "Tom and His Band" con el apoyo del cantante Bill Farr. Ese
mismo año fue aprendiz del arreglista Radames Gnatali, de quien
aprendió los rudimentos del arreglo y cambió de carrera y durante un
tiempo se convirtió en arreglista de cantantes locales. En
1956 colaboró con el poeta y diplomático Vinicius de Moraes en una
opereta titulada Orfeo do Carnaval que fue muy aclamada en el
Metropolitan Opera House de Río. El director francés Marcel Camus lo transfirió a la gran pantalla bajo el título Black Orpheus. La película fue galardonada por el Festival de Cannes con una Palma de Oro en 1959. Su primer éxito fue Felicidade de esta opereta. La canción ganó inmensa popularidad cuando Billy Eckstine le agregó letras en inglés a finales de la década de 1950. Moraes y Jobim también se unieron en otros éxitos como Girl from Ipanema y Agua de Beber entre otros. En
1958 el guitarrista y vocalista brasileño Joao Gilberto lanzó un disco
de canciones de Jobim que marcó el inicio del fenómeno de la bossa nova. 1962
marcó un cambio importante en la carrera de Jobim cuando irrumpió en la
escena mundial después de que Stan Getz popularizara su melodía
"Desafinado". Él y sus colegas fueron invitados a actuar en el Carnegie Hall y la popularidad de la bossa nova despegó. Desde 1962 hasta finales de los años 60 varios músicos de jazz grabaron multitud de discos de bossa nova. El
propio Jobim, además de convertirse en uno de los compositores más
grabados, grabó varios álbumes para diversos sellos, a menudo en
colaboración con Claus Ogerman. Los años 70 y 80 marcaron una época de baja popularidad para el jazz y la música brasileña debido a la explosión del rock. Jobim regresó a Brasil y trabajó en partituras de televisión y cine. En
1985, aunque la bossa nova y la música brasileña experimentaron un
renacimiento y Jobim comenzó a tocar de nuevo hasta unos meses antes de
su muerte en la ciudad de Nueva York por un fallo cardíaco el 8 de
diciembre de 1994.
Tracklist :
1 - Corcovado (Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars) - 4:13
Bass – Tommy Williams
Drums – Milton Banana
Guitar, Vocals – João Gilberto
Piano, Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Tenor Saxophone – Stan Getz
Vocals – Astrud Gilberto
Written-By – Gene Lees
2 - Vivo Sonhando (Dreamer) - - 2:35
Arranged By, Conductor – Claus Ogerman
Flute – Leo Wright
Guitar, Piano, Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Trombone – Jimmy Cleveland
Written-By – Gene Lees
3 - So Danco Samba - - - 3:36
Bass – George Duvivier, Tommy Williams
Drums – Paolo Fereira
Drums, Percussion – Jose Carlos
Guitar – Luiz Bonfa
Guitar, Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Tenor Saxophone – Stan Getz
Vocals – Maria Toledo
Written-By – Vinicius De Moraes
4 - Desafinado (Off Key) - - - 2:43
Arranged By, Conductor – Claus Ogerman
Flute – Leo Wright
Guitar, Piano, Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Trombone – Jimmy Cleveland
Written-By – Gene Lees, Newton Mendonca
5 - Aguas De Marco (Waters Of March) - 3:31
Bass – Luizão Maia
Drums – Paolo Braga
Guitar – Helio Delmiro, Oscar Castro Neves
Guitar, Vocals, Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Keyboards, Piano – Cesar Camargo Mariano
Vocals – Elis Regina
6 - O Grande Amor - - - 5:25
Bass – Tommy Williams
Drums – Milton Banana
Guitar – João Gilberto
Piano – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Tenor Saxophone – Stan Getz
Vocals – Astrud Gilberto, João Gilberto
Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius De Moraes
7 - Agua De Beber - - - 2:49
Arranged By, Conductor – Claus Ogerman
Flute – Leo Wright
Guitar, Piano, Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Trombone – Jimmy Cleveland, Jimmy Cleveland
Written-By – Vinicius De Moraes
8 - Chovendo Na Roseiro (Double Rainbow) - 3:10
Bass – Luizão Maia
Drums – Paolo Braga
Guitar – Helio Delmiro, Oscar Castro Neves
Guitar, Vocals, Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Keyboards, Piano – Cesar Camargo Mariano
Vocals – Elis Regina
Written-By – Gene Lees
9 - O Morro Nao Tem Vez - - 6:51
Bass – George Duvivier, Tommy Williams
Drums – Paolo Fereira
Drums, Percussion – Jose Carlos
Guitar – Luiz Bonfa
Guitar, Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Tenor Saxophone – Stan Getz
Vocals – Maria Toledo
Written-By – Vinicius De Moraes
10 - Fascinating Rhythm - - - 2:08
Bass – Sebastião Neto
Cello – Jacques Morelenbaum
Drums – Paolo Braga
Flute, Vocals – Danilo Caymmi
Guitar, Vocals – Paul Jobim
Piano, Vocals – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Vocals – Ana Lontra Jobim, Elizabeth Jobim, Maucha Adnet, Paul Morelenbaum, Simone Caymmi
Written-By – George & Ira Gershwin
11 - Insensatez (How Insensitive) - - 2:53
Arranged By, Conductor – Claus Ogerman
Flute – Leo Wright
Guitar, Piano, Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Trombone – Jimmy Cleveland
Written-By – Vinicius De Moraes
12 - Inútil Paisagem (Useless Landscape) - 3:07
Piano, Vocals, Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Vocals – Elis Regina
13 - Favela - - - - 3:21
Arranged By, Conductor – Claus Ogerman
Flute – Leo Wright
Guitar, Piano, Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
Trombone – Jimmy Cleveland
Written-By – Vinicius De Moraes
14 - Por Todo Minha Vida - - 2:02
Arranged By – Cesar Camargo Mariano
Conductor – Bill Hitchcock
Vocals – Elis Regina
Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius De Moraes
15 - Triste - - - - 2:39
Arranged By, Piano – Cesar Camargo Mariano
Bass – Luizão Maia
Drums – Paolo Braga
Guitar – Helio Delmiro, Oscar Castro Neves
Vocals – Elis Regina
Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
16 - Borzeguim - - - - 4:23
Arranged By, Cello – Jacques Morelenbaum
Percussion – Paolo Braga
Vocals – Ana Lontra Jobim, Danilo Caymmi, Elizabeth Jobim, Maucha Adnet, Paul Morelenbaum, Simone Caymmi
Vocals, Vocals [Birdcalls], Written-By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
+Credits
Art Direction – Sheryl Lutz-Brown
Edited By [Notes] – Peter Pullman
Liner Notes, Compiled By, Sequenced By – Gene Lees
Mastered By – Suha Gur ( At – PolyGram Studios)
Production Manager [Assistant] – Aric Lach Morrison, Jon Schapiro, Matt Brown
Research – Coleman Brice, Fernando Dos Santos
Supervised By – Michael Lang
Label: Verve Records - 314 516 409-2
Series: Verve Jazz Masters – 13
Released: 1994 (1993: 516 409-2)
Genre: Jazz, Latin
Style: Afro-Cuban Jazz, Bossa nova
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