Bossa Nova Music

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Antonio Carlos Jobim Composer is a very important Compact Disc.

It contains on a single disc, all of the original LP, The Wonderful World Of Antonio Carlos Jobim, and all of the LP, A Certain Mr. Jobim.

It also contains previously unreleased bonus tracks from these sessions, a timeless CD!

This CD is a welcome compilation to have because the albums that make up its tracks are currently only available as expensive imports (if they are still even in print). Tracks from "The Wonderful World of Antonio Carlos Jobim", "A Certain Mr. Jobim" and "Love, Strings, & Jobim" are here, along with at least two previously unreleased tracks. I can't say enough about Claus Ogerman's arrangements and Nelson Riddle's are also very excellent. These albums which Jobim recorded in the U.S. before his "Wave" LP are among his best efforts. There are both vocals and instrumentals on this CD, something to please a fan of either. Don't miss getting this one!

This album includes tracks from THREE other albums: THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM (1965); LOVE, STRING AND JOBIM (1966) and A CERTAIN MR. JOBIM (1967)... plus four unreleased songs recorded for this last album.

Here we find a young and vibrant Jobim during one of his most creative phases with many, many classics like SHE'S A CARIOCA, SURFBOARD, BONITA, SAMBA DO AVIÃO, DESAFINADO, USELESS LANDSCAPE, SÓ TINHA DE SER VOCÊ and DINDI.

Beautifully arranged by Nelson Riddle (tracks 1-12), Gaya and Eumir Deodato (13-14) and Claus Ogerman (15-28), these songs show the unforgettable genius of Tom Jobim along with fellow composers Vinícius de Morais, Aloysio de Oliveira and Dolores Duran. These recordings are truly among the best examples of the best Brazilian music ever written!

In fact, these were the songs that really made of Brazilian music one of the worldwide creative quality references is has been ever since.

It is impossible not to feel the musical uniqueness of songs like DINDI and SURFBOARD. After listening to these songs for all my life I still get an incredible sense of amazement thinking how can someone write such beautiful music. Well... the truth is nobody really can - except legendary figures like Jobim and Vinícius who were probably super humans... because these songs are larger than life.

One final note: American audiences have got used to hear English versions of Jobim and Vinícius' songs. Although most of them are great, none can match the beauty of the original lyrics who (many times) are very different from the English versions.

Ever thought about learning Portuguese? Well... here's a great excuse to start today: Brazilian Music.

I love Jobim dearly, but like the liner notes point out, he's not a natural singer. The feeling he gives his songs can be incredibly sublime, yet often the quality of his voice and his inability to always sing on-key bother me. Add to that a few commercially-minded and annoying tracks like "Surfboard" and "Bonita," and you get a album that true bossa nova lovers will only enjoy about half of. If anything, buy it for the wonderful performances of "So Tinha de Ser Com Voce," "Useless Landscape" and "A Felicidade."

I am big fan of João Gilberto and bossa nova and I agree with all reviews which were posted here. However, the artist who appears in the cd is not João Gilberto, but Tom Jobim ! (A very poor painting made from a Tom Jobim picture.) This is really a shame.

Regards from Rio,
Carlos Maia

You'll forgive the reviewer behind me who so foolishly referred to "Joao's death" several years ago. Folks, it is November of 2003 and Joao is still very much alive and kicking, and his voice is still as vibrant and singular as it ever was. He performs very rarely, though he did a small tour earlier this summer, and I flew up for the night to San Francisco to hear him play at the intimate Masonic Auditorium. He played and sang flawlessly without any accompaniment, and hypnotized the audience.
This album, and most of Joao's earliest recordings, are unbelievably hard to find. I finally gave up and downloaded them all from Kazaa. This collection, titled "Desafinado", includes the earliest songs which constituted what would eventually be called bossa nova, most importantly "Chega de Saudade" and "Outra Vez." Fans of his 2 early albums with Stan Getz will recognize "Corcovado", "Desafinado", "O Pato", "Rosa Morena", and several others in their original versions. Also notable on these early recordings is that you will hear Joao Gilberto singing with a touch of vibrato, which he very quickly eradicated from his style after these recordings were made. The two highlights on this album for me are the two ballads "Coisa Mais Linda" and "Insensatez", two quintessential examples of Jobim's style of songwriting. Some of these tunes also find Jobim leading a small understated orchestra behind Joao. These recordings, and about 20 others, can be found on "The Legendary Joao Gilberto", a CD that is--surprise, surprise--out of print. Someone needs to get on the ball.

I have always been a fan of Bossa Nova and love it still with "older" recordings of Luis Bonfa, Antonio "Tom" Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Jaoa Gilberto's first wife, Stan Getz, and of course Joao G. himself. Unfortunately, while Joao's early recordings remain luminously evanescent [ya' know-brilliantly swell![ he did not age well. Joao died a few years ago and his voice simply did not age well, altho his guitar playing remained terrific. This album consists of his early recordings, his voice is sweet and lyrical, and these particular songs were "sweetened, strings or trombone or piano added in a studio, but I love it. In fact I prefer these sweetened versions because the arrangements and musicianship is wonderful. A must have for your Bossa collection!

there are 20 (short-versioned) classic bossa-nova songs sung by Joao...
it is as good as "Joao Gilberto, Voz e Violao" (where he only uses his voice and a guitar), but at the other extreme, i.e., the versions in this CD mix several instruments really well...

Sometimes it's necessary for a human being to feel lonely. It's because of some peculiarities of the psyche. Not to craze your should be for a little in complete solitude... That is what in my humble opinion this perfect album is intended for. Yes. For listening to it in solitude...

I am big fan of João Gilberto and bossa nova and I agree with all reviews which were posted here. However, the artist who appears in the cd is not João Gilberto, but Tom Jobim ! (A very poor painting made from a Tom Jobim picture.) This is really a shame.

Regards from Rio,
Carlos Maia

You'll forgive the reviewer behind me who so foolishly referred to "Joao's death" several years ago. Folks, it is November of 2003 and Joao is still very much alive and kicking, and his voice is still as vibrant and singular as it ever was. He performs very rarely, though he did a small tour earlier this summer, and I flew up for the night to San Francisco to hear him play at the intimate Masonic Auditorium. He played and sang flawlessly without any accompaniment, and hypnotized the audience.
This album, and most of Joao's earliest recordings, are unbelievably hard to find. I finally gave up and downloaded them all from Kazaa. This collection, titled "Desafinado", includes the earliest songs which constituted what would eventually be called bossa nova, most importantly "Chega de Saudade" and "Outra Vez." Fans of his 2 early albums with Stan Getz will recognize "Corcovado", "Desafinado", "O Pato", "Rosa Morena", and several others in their original versions. Also notable on these early recordings is that you will hear Joao Gilberto singing with a touch of vibrato, which he very quickly eradicated from his style after these recordings were made. The two highlights on this album for me are the two ballads "Coisa Mais Linda" and "Insensatez", two quintessential examples of Jobim's style of songwriting. Some of these tunes also find Jobim leading a small understated orchestra behind Joao. These recordings, and about 20 others, can be found on "The Legendary Joao Gilberto", a CD that is--surprise, surprise--out of print. Someone needs to get on the ball.

I have always been a fan of Bossa Nova and love it still with "older" recordings of Luis Bonfa, Antonio "Tom" Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Jaoa Gilberto's first wife, Stan Getz, and of course Joao G. himself. Unfortunately, while Joao's early recordings remain luminously evanescent [ya' know-brilliantly swell![ he did not age well. Joao died a few years ago and his voice simply did not age well, altho his guitar playing remained terrific. This album consists of his early recordings, his voice is sweet and lyrical, and these particular songs were "sweetened, strings or trombone or piano added in a studio, but I love it. In fact I prefer these sweetened versions because the arrangements and musicianship is wonderful. A must have for your Bossa collection!

there are 20 (short-versioned) classic bossa-nova songs sung by Joao...
it is as good as "Joao Gilberto, Voz e Violao" (where he only uses his voice and a guitar), but at the other extreme, i.e., the versions in this CD mix several instruments really well...

Sometimes it's necessary for a human being to feel lonely. It's because of some peculiarities of the psyche. Not to craze your should be for a little in complete solitude... That is what in my humble opinion this perfect album is intended for. Yes. For listening to it in solitude...