No other Brazilian musician in the 20th century has had as profound an impact on popular music as Antonio Carlos Jobim. Jobim was at the vanguard of the Música Popular Brasileira (MPB) movement, a cultural and sociological revolution of artists—such as Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, and others—who shared a preference for flouting musical convention. While Jobim’s compositions contained elements of traditional Brazilian samba as well as classical and folk music, his strange, sophisticated harmonic sensibilities, adventurous approach to voice leading, and passion for tinkering with the traditional syntax and imagery of pop lyrics made him one of the most original and innovative musicians of his time.
Born Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim in 1927 to a family of French descent, Jobim, known to friends as “Tom,” grew up in Rio de Janeiro. Studying classical music as a boy, he developed a great love of STRAVINSKY, Chopin, DEBUSSY, and especially of the renowned Brazilian composer VILLA-LOBOS. He also enjoyed the big-band jazz of Duke ELLINGTON, Tommy DORSEY, and Count BASIE.
By the early 1950s, Jobim, proficient on guitar and piano, landed a job as musical director for Odeon Records, where he began to develop his craft in endless sessions of arranging, copying, and recording. In 1956 he worked with poet Vinicius de Moraes on the score for the film musical Black Orpheus. The Black Orpheus soundtrack helped spread the word of Jobim’s talent outside the borders of his homeland.
In 1959, Jobim persuaded Odeon to release Chega de saudade, by the brilliant young guitarist/vocalist João Gilberto. The album featured Jobim as both composer and arranger, and helped establish what became known as bossa nova (new beat). Gilberto was to become widely regarded as the premier interpreter of the composer’s repertoire.
Jobim’s music merged the sound of America’s cool jazz movement of the 1950s with updated traditional samba. On a tour of Brazil in 196I, American jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd heard the music of Jobim, and was moved to include “Desafinado” and “One Note Samba” on Jazz Samba, his 1962 release with American tenor saxophonist Stan GETZ. The overwhelming success of this album precipitated a New York concert at Carnegie Hall later that year, which included Jobim, Gilberto, Getz, Byrd, and Dizzy GILLESPIE. In the wake of the concert, bossa nova exploded across the U.S. Musicians were interested not only in the rhythms of Jobim’s bossa nova, but also in the unusual and sophisticated harmonies of his tunes.
In 1964, Jobim’s hugely successful single “The Girl from Ipanema” was released—the most popular song in the history of bossa nova. It was sung by João Gilberto’s wife, Astrud, whose cool, vibrato-less voice floated over the breezy accompaniment of her husband’s guitar and Stan Getz’s breathy tenor sax. Other popular Jobim tunes included “Insensitive,” “Wave,” “Meditation,” and “Quiet Night of Quiet Stars.” The 1967 album Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim combined SINATRA’S balladeer Stylings with the compositions and guitar work of Jobim.
Jobim’s 1970s albums found him taking advantage of arranger Claus Ogerman’s European musical orientation to bring out darker colours in his harmonies and musical settings, delving into art songs and impressionistic instrumentais. During the 1980s, Jobim created some of his most personal and challenging works. By the time of his death in New York City in December 1994, Jobim had earned the respect of several generations of musicians.
Jim Allen
SEE ALSO:
BRAZIL; COOL JAZZ; JAZZ; LATIN AMERICA; LATIN JAZZ.
FURTHER READING
McGowan, C., and R. Pessanha. The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova, and the Popular Music of Brazil (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1997).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Chega De Saudade; Elis and Tom: Jobim and Elis Regina; Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim; Stan Getz and João Gilberto; Terra Brasilis; Urubu; Wave.