Antonio Carlos Jobim Music

What a great CD. This is one of the most musical guitarists I have heard. The jazz arrangements on this CD are top notch.

I've been fortunate enough to have seen Dyens perform several times in the past few years. He's the most natural and gifted performer I've ever seen, period. This cd is a good example of some of his repertiore. The only way it could be better is if it was a video. He conveys such emotion, affection and an improvisational spirit through his music on stage, there's no way it could come out on a cd. His only peer is John Williams, and his is a different, practised kind of virtuosity.
Be on the lookout for an upcoming cd from Dyens featuring his transcriptions of jazz standards. His performance of several of these pieces, notably an incredible version of "All The Things You Are" and a rip your heart out "Misty" brought the house down in June 2002.

This disk is a must for all music lovers. Roland Dyens plays with a flair that few guitarists do. His tone is great, and he posesses the technique to get the job of making great music well accomplished. He is also a great composer: check out Songe Capricorne, my favourite of his many fine compositions. Roland Dyens is an excellent musician; listening to this disk is a great pleasure.

An awesome work!, A beautifull rendition of this classics, and his compositions are just amazing!, a true artist, a genius. Definitely my favorite musician.

Besides being a convincing guitarist, Roland is also a proficient composer and arranger. The works found on this CD display his ability on guitar, his arrangement capability, as well as his compositional mastery. For the player, listen and learn, because you'll get no better representation of the original works here. For the enthusiast, listen and enjoy, since this work is an emotional and well-planned journey through some of the most inspiring and interesting music written for guitar. I must add that Dyens is by far my favorite composer and performer, and although his modesty would not allow him to agree, it adds to his likeable character and honest nature. All around, a five-star recording by a five-star guitarist.

Barbosa-Lima was at his best in the '80s when he recorded many all solo guitar recordings. I'm disappointed that since he left the Concord label he hasn't recorded a single all solo CD. His Zoho recordings, which attempt to please everyone, don't please purists such as myself who long for the Barbosa-Lima of 25 years ago. Get this if you don't mind lots of what many of us solo artists consider to be filler.

Although not as widely known a name as other classical guitarists before the concert public today, Carlos Barbosa-Lima is a superlative musician, easily the equal to the finest guitar and lute masters of now and the past. This CD is a renewed mastering and release of a CD made in 1997, a recital so varied and compelling that it a gift that it is once again available.

Spanning three centuries of both works for solo guitar and works for guitar and orchestra, Barbosa-Lima conceived a mixture of works that would be a richly woven tapestry of works from Europe through the Caribbean, the Amazon, and the Hawaiian Islands. The choices he makes are sure and stunning and quite unlike any other recording of the guitar repertoire we are likely to encounter.

The 'recital' opens with Barbosa-Lima's transcription of Handel's Concerto for Harp and orchestra in A major: in Barbosa-Lima's hands it sounds as if this were the preferred instrument for the Handel work. The orchestra (Sofia Soloists) is conducted with sensitive élan by Plamen Djurov. Next comes a solo work by Emilio Pujol from 1928, brief but virtuosic. Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's 'Capriccio Diabolico' for guitar and orchestra allows our soloist to explore a work by a famous composer that has been neglected until now. Included in the recital are two other works for solo guitar (by Enric Madriguera ever popular 'Adios' and by Ernesto Cordero, and including Cordero's 1983 'Concerto Antillano' for guitar and orchestra), Byron Yasui's 'Piccola Arietta No. 2 and Antonio Carlos Jobim's 'O Boto' (the title song for the recital) also for guitar and orchestra. It is a wide spectrum of styles and Barbosa-Lima is equally at home in each.

Though most devotees of the guitar will be well familiar with this master from Brazil, whether in the veins of jazz, classical or Latin American music, for this listener this important CD is a fine introduction to a truly gifted musician and humanitarian. Recommended for all lovers of fine music! Grady Harp, August 07

O Pequeno Principe is supposed to have come out in the late 50's around the time Jobim had a TV show in Sao Paulo.

Formally a 10" vinyl disc, central to every family turntable, it's exciting to think O Pequino Principe must've been a popular item at fancy retail stores or available to check out at the library.

Jobim stands back and let the speaking parts carry the story, quiet little chamber pieces cue the beginning or end of a passage.

Very unpretentious. Fitting for the subject.

Jobim's chamber music has a mysterious way of tugging on the heartstrings, it captures the hope and emptiness a little person feels adjusting to the demands of a big world.

All the speaking parts are in Portuguese, Paulo Autran, Gloria Cometh and Aury Cahet shine, along with the rest of the ensemble, Oswaldo Loureiro Filho, Magarida Rey, and Benedito Corsi.

Irineu Garcia played a significant role bringing spoken works like this to the forefront, and now his niece is involved releasing anniversary editions befitting a true collector.

Look for the Festa Irineu Garcia 1969 spoken work, Vinicius In Portugal, it contains 10 sonnets and some nice pictures of the poet.

Naturally, O Pequeno Principe and Vinicius In Portugal will be a bit of a handicap if you don't speak Portuguese.

I know my collection wouldn't be complete without these two CD's, I hold and study them all the time, they make great bookends!

Festa label also has one of the first LP's Vinicius and Jobim worked on as a songwriting team, Por Toda Minha Vida (For The Rest Of My Life) Lenita Bruno, top notch production, 13 of their songs on one album.

Make a note to look into some of Jobim's last major works, like Minha Alma Canta, Antonio Brasileiro, and Tom Canta Vinicius: Ao Vivo, it's amazing how Jobim manage to nurture and develop the format for modern chamber orchestra.

I'd like to thank Amazon and the Festa Irineu Garcia Label for O Pequino Principe, Vinicius In Portugal and Por Toda Minha Vida Lenita Bruno.

Shine On!

Want to be welcomed into the fold? How would you like to be part of an extended family?

Buy Antonio Carlos Jobim Passarim, put it on your player, turn up the speakers and open all the windows.

The vocal duties performed by Antonio Carlos Jobim's family and friends add extra texturing to the great arrangements.

Truly, a breath of fresh air.

Enjoy. You're safe in the heart of Brazil.

One of Jobim's more eclectic groupings of songs. Little bird, Passarim, is a cute song. We live in the woods, and whenever our cat gets closer to a little bird, my son and I sing the part of the song that says "Little bird - fly - or you're going to die!" (Yes, those words are in the song!)

This is Jobim the way HE wants it - with his family at the core of things and unabashedly romantic, as always. 'Passarim' is a cry for the environment and the forest that Jobim loves. Also Jobim plays with the lyrics as never before, interjecting Portugese into English and vice-versa (and a little French, too). In 'Chansong' Jobim pokes fun at the U.S. and the whole mood is one of satire regarding the way his music was boiled down, stripped of all subtlety, then regurgitated. For more of this band and one of my all time favorite recordings, see if you can locate "Antonio Brasileiro" which was released I think in 1993 or 1994, and which contains a version of "Insensatez (How Insensative) with Sting and Jobim singing and harmonizing on it. This was released in Brazil, but perhaps not in the U.S. Check the U.K. if not. If you have any reservations about lush vocal arrangements (which I emphatically do not) this is not the CD for you...

This is the last studio album that Jobim recorded, and it's a gem. The sound is a culmination of Jobim's style, topped off by the beautiful signature female chorus -- close your eyes and you're on Ipanema beach. There is enough pure bossa to keep the hardcore happy, including a great version of "Fascinatin' Rhythm" with Jobim's marvelous cigarette-coated voice. It's the arrangements that go beyond bossa that shine the most, though. The title track (portuguese version) is as beautiful a song as Jobim ever wrote (that's saying something), and others like "Anos Dourados" and "Luiza" became MPB standards. The icing on the cake is "Gabriella," a song instantly recognizable to most Brazilians: it was the theme for the television production of Jorge Amado's novel, with Sonia Braga in the title role.

One of my favorites - although it doesn't make a great first impression, on further listening the obscure melodic complexity really grabbed me. The title track is a masterpiece......highly recommended.

Want to be welcomed into the fold? How would you like to be part of an extended family?

Buy Antonio Carlos Jobim Passarim, put it on your player, turn up the speakers and open all the windows.

The vocal duties performed by Antonio Carlos Jobim's family and friends add extra texturing to the great arrangements.

Truly, a breath of fresh air.

Enjoy. You're safe in the heart of Brazil.

One of Jobim's more eclectic groupings of songs. Little bird, Passarim, is a cute song. We live in the woods, and whenever our cat gets closer to a little bird, my son and I sing the part of the song that says "Little bird - fly - or you're going to die!" (Yes, those words are in the song!)

This is Jobim the way HE wants it - with his family at the core of things and unabashedly romantic, as always. 'Passarim' is a cry for the environment and the forest that Jobim loves. Also Jobim plays with the lyrics as never before, interjecting Portugese into English and vice-versa (and a little French, too). In 'Chansong' Jobim pokes fun at the U.S. and the whole mood is one of satire regarding the way his music was boiled down, stripped of all subtlety, then regurgitated. For more of this band and one of my all time favorite recordings, see if you can locate "Antonio Brasileiro" which was released I think in 1993 or 1994, and which contains a version of "Insensatez (How Insensative) with Sting and Jobim singing and harmonizing on it. This was released in Brazil, but perhaps not in the U.S. Check the U.K. if not. If you have any reservations about lush vocal arrangements (which I emphatically do not) this is not the CD for you...

This is the last studio album that Jobim recorded, and it's a gem. The sound is a culmination of Jobim's style, topped off by the beautiful signature female chorus -- close your eyes and you're on Ipanema beach. There is enough pure bossa to keep the hardcore happy, including a great version of "Fascinatin' Rhythm" with Jobim's marvelous cigarette-coated voice. It's the arrangements that go beyond bossa that shine the most, though. The title track (portuguese version) is as beautiful a song as Jobim ever wrote (that's saying something), and others like "Anos Dourados" and "Luiza" became MPB standards. The icing on the cake is "Gabriella," a song instantly recognizable to most Brazilians: it was the theme for the television production of Jorge Amado's novel, with Sonia Braga in the title role.

One of my favorites - although it doesn't make a great first impression, on further listening the obscure melodic complexity really grabbed me. The title track is a masterpiece......highly recommended.