| Tom Jobim | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim |
| Also known as | Antonio Carlos Jobim, Tom Jobim |
| Born | January 25, 1927 |
| 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), 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.
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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.
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.
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 Toninho Horta, 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.
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.
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