Home » Jazz Musicians » Antonio Carlos Jobim

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.

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.

—————->

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. Morales 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.

Source: All Music Guide

Show less

J come Jobim

by Paolo Peviani
June 27, 2024

J come Jobim--Una Nota Sola e Molte Culture Polillo Art Container Alfabeto di Parco Milano 19.06.2024 Terzo appuntamento di Alfabeto di Parco, rassegna che porta al Polillo Art Container una serie di incontri, lezioni concerto a tema. Un alfabeto che procede in modo randomico e che dopo la R di Max Roach e la S di Frank Sinatra, ci ha proposto la J di Antonio Carlos Jobim. Figura fondamentale di quell'immenso universo che è ...

History of Jazz

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

by Victor L. Schermer
February 6, 2020

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 ...

Anatomy of a Standard

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

by Tish Oney
February 1, 2017

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

by AAJ Staff
April 15, 2015

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

by Chris May
December 8, 2011

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 ...

525

Album Review

Antonio Carlos Jobim: Live At Minas

Read "Live At Minas" reviewed by Ernest Barteldes

by Ernest Barteldes
April 16, 2007

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

by Stephen Latessa
June 23, 2005

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 ...

Video / DVD

Backgrounder: Antonio Carlos Jobim's 'Wave'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 11, 2022

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 ...
read more

TV / Film

CBS News Eyewitness: The New Beat, 1962

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 27, 2022

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 ...
read more

Video / DVD

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

Source: All About Jazz
July 23, 2020

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 ...
read more

Video / DVD

Tom Jobim: Melody Master

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 6, 2017

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 ...
read more

120

Book / Magazine

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

Source: Chris M. Slawecki
November 6, 2011

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 ...
read more

154

Award / Grant

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

Source: Michael Ricci
July 2, 2010

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 ...
read more

414

Recording

Frank Sinatra/Antonio Carlos Jobim Reissue Coming On Concord

Source: conqueroo
April 5, 2010

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 ...
read more

154

Award / Grant

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

Source: Michael Ricci
July 10, 2009

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 ...
read more

289

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Antonio Carlos Jobim

Source: Michael Ricci
January 25, 2009

219

Event

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

Source: All About Jazz
April 28, 2008

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 ...
read more