Antonio Carlos Jobim

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Tom Jobim

Background information
Birth name Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim
Also known as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Tom Jobim
Born January 25, 1927(1927-01-25)
Origin Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Died December 8, 1994 (aged 67)
Genre(s) Bossa Nova
Latin jazz
Brazilian jazz
Música Popular Brasileira
Latin folk
Occupation(s) Musician, composer, songwriter, singer
Instrument(s) Piano, guitar
Years active 1956 - 1994
Associated acts Vinícius de Moraes, João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, Stan Getz, Frank Sinatra

Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (January 25, 1927 in Rio de Janeiro – December 8, 1994 in New York City), also known as Tom Jobim, was a Grammy Award-winning Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist. A primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, Jobim is acknowledged as one of the most influential popular composers of the 20th century. His songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within Brazil and internationally.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Musical roots

Jobim's musical roots were planted firmly in the work of Pixinguinha, the legendary musician and composer who began modern Brazilian music in the 1930s. Jobim was also influenced by the French composers Claude Debussy and Ravel, and by jazz. Among many themes, his lyrics talked about love, political repression, betrayal, and especially about the natural beauties of Brazil, like the "Mata Atlântica" forest, birds like the Matita Perê, and his home city of Rio de Janeiro

[edit] Early career

Jobim became prominent in Brazil when he teamed up with poet and diplomat Vinicius de Moraes to write the music for the play Orfeu de Conceição (1956). The most popular song from the show was "Se Todos Fossem Iguais A Você" ("Someone to Light Up My Life"). Later, when the play was turned into a film, producer Sacha Gordine did not want to use any of the existing music from the play. Gordine asked de Moraes and Jobim for a new score for the film Black Orpheus (1959). Vinicius was at the time away in Montevideo, Uruguay, working for the Itamaraty (the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and so he and Jobim were only able to write three songs, primarily over the telephone ("A Felicidade", "Frevo",and "O Nosso Amor"). This collaboration proved successful, and Vinicius went on to pen the lyrics to some of Jobim's most popular songs.

[edit] Collaborators and performers of Jobim's music

The Brazilian collaborators and interpreters of Jobim's music include João Gilberto (often credited as a co-creator of bossa nova), Gal Costa, Elis Regina, Sergio Mendes, Astrud Gilberto, and Flora Purim. Eumir Deodato and the conductor/composer Claus Ogerman arranged many recordings of Jobim tunes.[1]

A key event in making Jobim's music known in the English speaking world was his collaboration with the American jazz saxophonist Stan Getz, João Gilberto and Gilberto's wife at the time, Astrud Gilberto, which resulted in two albums, Getz/Gilberto (1963) and Getz/Gilberto Vol. 2 (1964). The release of Getz/Gilberto created a bossa nova craze in the United States, and subsequently internationally.

Getz had previously recorded Jazz Samba (1962), and Jobim wrote many of the songs on Getz/Gilberto, which became one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time, and turned Astrud Gilberto, who sang on "The Girl from Ipanema" and "Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)", into an international sensation.

At the Grammy Awards of 1964 Getz/Gilberto won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group and the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. "The Girl from Ipanema" won the award for Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

American jazz singers Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra prominently featured Jobim's songs on their albums Ella Abraça Jobim (1981), and Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967), respectively. Other notable performers of Jobim songs include Andy Williams, Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Diana Krall, Claudine Longet, Sting, and George Michael. Carlos Santana's 1970s album Caravanserai included a version of Jobim's "Stone Flower." The 1996 CD Wave: The Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook included performances of Jobim tunes by Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Toots Thielemans. Contemporary jazz performer Jane Monheit sang Waters of March on her CD Come Dream With Me.

[edit] Last years

Jobim remained musically productive until his 1994 death from heart failure; his last album, Antonio Brasileiro, was released posthumously.[2] He is buried in the Cemitério São João Batista in Rio de Janeiro.[3] The Rio de Janeiro airport was renamed the Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport in his honour. Michael Franks dedicated a whole album titled Abandoned Garden to Jobim, where he explains the kind of person Antonio was and the special friendship they had.

[edit] Discography

  • Miúcha & Antonio Carlos Jobim - vol. 1 - Miúcha & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1977)
  • Gravado ao vivo no Canecão - Tom, Vinicius, Toquinho, Miúcha (1977)
  • Miucha & Tom Jobim - vol. II - Miúcha & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1979)
  • Sinatra-Jobim Sessions (1979)
  • Terra Brasilis (1980)
  • Edu & Tom (1981)
  • em minas ao vivo (1981)
  • Gabriela (1983)
  • Passarim (1987)
  • Inédito (1987)
  • Echoes of Rio (1989)
  • Tom Canta Vinicius: Ao Vivo (1990/2000)
  • Antonio Carlos Jobim and Friends (1993)
  • Miúcha e Tom Jobim (1994)
  • Duets II (1994)
  • Antonio Brasileiro (1994)

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The late singer/songwriter Elliott Smith wrote a song titled "Antonio Carlos Jobim", which he recorded with his band Heatmiser on their Cop And Speeder album.
  • Antonio, Carlos, and Jobim are a trio of recurring extras on the musically focused anime Cowboy Bebop.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Red Bull Music Academy (2005) Eumir Deodato - Boy from Rio Pt. 1. Available from: http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/LECTURES.95.0.html?act_session=211. Accessed 6 December 2006.
  2. ^ Newsweek Archives
  3. ^ FindAGrave.com link to Jobim's burial

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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