Thursday, January 25, 2007

Antonio Carlos Jobim - The Composer of Desafinado Plays (1963)

Hello, Good Day! Yes, day. I'm starting today earlier than usual to attend Kiko Continentino concert, playing 80 Jobim compositions in Rio de Janeiro. We will make an hiatus for the concert and then getting back Loronix ending our 48 Hours of Tom Jobim. It will be a great day where I will finally get in touch with several new friends I had the chance to know here. So, let's start the day with a recommendation of Ronam Ribeiro, made this morning at Cbox.

This is Antonio Carlos Jobim - The Composer of Desafinado Plays (1963), for Verve, also released in Brazil as Antonio Carlos Jobim - Antonio Carlos Jobim (1964), for Elenco as ME-9. This is Antonio Carlos Jobim debut LP. There were several different releases of this LP with many different cover artworks; I'm showing the one that I have on better conditions, which is the German edition. We started the first day with an early Jobim 10-inch and now we are starting the second with his debut LP. Tracks include:

Personnel

Claus Ogerman
(arrangements and conduction)

Antonio Carlos Jobim
(piano, guitar and vocals)

Jimmy Cleveland
(trombone)

Leo Wright
(flute)

George Duvivier
(bass)

Edison Machado
(drums)

Track List

01 - Garota de Ipanema (Tom Jobim / Vinicius de Moraes)
02 - Amor Em Paz (Tom Jobim / Vinicius de Moraes)
03 - Água de Beber (Tom Jobim / Vinicius de Moraes)
04 - Vivo Sonhando (Dreamer) (Tom Jobim)
05 - O Morro Não Tem Vez (Tom Jobim / Vinicius de Moraes)
06 - Insensatez (Tom Jobim / Vinicius de Moraes)
07 - Corcovado (Tom Jobim)
08 - Samba de Uma Nota Só (Tom Jobim / Newton Mendonça)
09 - Meditação (Tom Jobim / Newton Mendonça)
10 - Só Danço Samba (Tom Jobim / Vinicius de Moraes)
11 - Chega de Saudade (Tom Jobim / Vinicius de Moraes)
12 - Desafinado (Tom Jobim / Newton Mendonça)


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this all-time classic. I'm sure most Loronixers would agree that this album is part of the bossa nova canon. Jobim + Ogerman + Creed Taylor = Magic! This album truly leaves me breathless.

Anonymous said...

This album was Jobim's formal introduction to the U.S. audience with a record of his own. This album was also the beginning of a relationship - a Brazilian meeting a German - someone with whom Jobim would eventually make seven albums. This is nothing short of historic and U.S. producer Creed Taylor alone is responsible for it. Jobim came to the U.S. without an arranger; he was at the mercy of producer Creed, who almost without reservation recommended someone named Claus Ogerman who had only been working in the U.S. since 1959. Creed had already heard a bit of Claus' work by this time and just knew they would be right for each other.

Claus' work for Jobim so impressed him that Claus was asked to arrange more and more LPs for Tom. Tom eventually wound up calling Claus "The Meister" and one listen to this LP will tell anyone WHY. After all the study I have done on both these men, I am firmly convinced that Jobim time and time again would have continued to use Claus as his arranger - if Claus had agreed. It is clear from everything I know that the feeling was mutual and that Claus considered Tom a VERY good friend. They even spent "after hours" together in conversation about the subjects that interested Jobim: the environment, music, the classics - everything. Claus declined to arrange for Tom again after 1980 only due to wanting to spend the majority of his time composing classical music and therefore forsaking his arranging days...I have a feeling that even after 1980, Tom would continue to call Claus just to see if he had indeed changed his mind...

So, we have two heavyweight talents on this album - the mighty Tom Jobim with his sweet bossa novas - and Claus Ogerman with his equally sweet treatment of those wonderful melodies and harmonies. Listen carefully to the talents of both men and see how on each track, their work compliments each other.

When you don't feel so right with the world or are having a bad day, listen to a track on this album and see for yourself if you don't almost instantly feel better. This is an extremely uplifting album in so many ways - the tracks will make your spirit soar!