Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967)

European Import

In which Sinatra not only jumps on the bossa nova bandwagon, he completely hijacks it and makes it his own. Tunes here were exquisitely arranged by the incomparable Claus Ogerman and features seven of compositions by Jobim plus three standards. I'd heard this album a few times and I already have digital files of this stuff, but when I eventually found it in a clearance bin for 50¢, I didn't hesitate. I'm guessing somebody sold this to the used media store after they picked up The Complete Reprise Recordings disc in 2010. In any case, while this album is quite brief (28½ minutes), it is quite a treat as well as a master class in phrasing and delivery.

Here's some insight on the album's recording session from Gene Lees, the lyricist of track 4, Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars: High Fidelity, May 1967, p. 95.

The album was nominated for Grammy awards in the Album Of The Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance category, eventually losing to Sgt. Pepper and By The Time I Get To Phoenix, respectively.

Reviews/ratings:

• Stereo Review: "Sinatra's best in years"
• Billboard: "soft and tender"
• CashBox: "There is no doubt that the disk will be a huge success"
• Record World: "The tone is soft and the mood is romantic"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #19
• Billboard Jazz: #4

Tracks: Almost every review I've found for this album offer an opinion that, on this album, Sinatra delivers the definitive version of [insert song title], but the song mentioned is always different. That suggests to me that while everybody might have their own particular favorite track, there's a lot of good stuff here. And, well, I just can't pick favorites on this one today. The album ends subtlety and leaves the listener wanting more so the only choice is to play it again (or maybe segue into Wave).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:

Sinatra	Jobim
Sinatra Sings Cole Porter (2003)	Tide (1970)
The Capitol Years (1990)	Wave (1967)
That's Life (1966)	Getz/Gilberto (1964)
Sinatra at the Sands (1966)
September Of My Years (1965)
It Might As Well Be Swing (1964)
Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!! And More (1961)

Antonio Carlos Jobim - Tide (1970)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2000 reissue with 4 bonus tracks.

If Wave is one of my favorites, then I should probably check out the follow-up. How many times have I been burned using that logic? To be fair, this isn't a bad album at all, it's just nowhere near the quality of Wave. Not even in the same zip code. Jobim's compositions aren't quite up to par, but that's understandable and even forgivable. Production by Creed Taylor is perfect. The big differences here are the so-so arrangements by Eumir Deodato (the same person that would later deliver this sweet hit). Deodato takes the guitar and bossa beat away from Jobim's palette for the most part. And it's all kind of lazily thrown together: the first track is a lackluster remake of The Girl From Ipanema while the title track of this album is just a reworking of the title track from Wave. What we're left with isn't great, but good enough to hear on the occasional shuffle.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks:  My favorite track is Tema Jazz, mainly because of the multiphonic flute solo by Hermeto Pascoal. Other top picks are Remember, Caribe, and Rockanalia.

The bonus tracks are alternate takes of Tide and Tema Jazz, nothing special.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Wave (1967)
Getz/Gilberto (1964)

Antonio Carlos Jobim - Wave (1967)

BRAZIL WEEK (FEBRUARY 4-10, 2013)

"This man has written songs which could conceivably replace coffee as Brazil's leading export." - from Norman Gimbel's original liner notes.

This gets my vote for best bossa nova album ever and is one of the favorite CDs in my collection. It's got it all: great songwriting, beautiful guitar and piano work by Jobim, wonderful arrangements by Claus Ogerman, and tasteful production by Creed Taylor. Incredibly laid back and relaxing. 10 beautiful tracks over only 32 minutes. I would complain about the brevity of the album, but since the music is so perfect I'll just be thankful for what we were given.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #114

Tracks:  Don't skip any. This is one of those albums where my favorite tracks change each time I listen. The title track is probably the most popular and has become something of a bossa standard.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  I never have to "be in the mood" to listen to this album. Whenever one of the songs pops up on an iTunes shuffle, I stop what I'm doing and listen to the whole thing from start to finish at least once, sometimes twice. If the "last played" statistics are correct on my computer, that last happened two weeks ago at about 8 PM.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Getz/Gilberto (1964)

Blog post #800

Stan Getz, João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim - Getz/Gilberto (1964)

Note: this CD is the 1997 reissue containing 2 bonus tracks.

One of my favorites. This classic album is so sublime that I don't have the words to fully describe it, so I'm going to be lazy and cut-and-paste from the allmusic.com review. (I'd also prefer to enjoy the CD without thinking and writing). Here's some of what Steve Huey had to say about this album and I'm in complete agreement with everything he writes:

One of the biggest-selling jazz albums of all time, not to mention bossa nova's finest moment, Getz/Gilberto trumped Jazz Samba by bringing two of bossa nova's greatest innovators -- guitarist/singer João Gilberto and composer/pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim -- to New York to record with Stan Getz. The results were magic. Ever since [Getz's album] Jazz Samba, the jazz marketplace had been flooded with bossa nova albums, and the overexposure was beginning to make the music seem like a fad. Getz/Gilberto made bossa nova a permanent part of the jazz landscape not just with its unassailable beauty, but with one of the biggest smash hit singles in jazz history -- "The Girl From Ipanema," a Jobim classic sung by João's wife, Astrud Gilberto, who had never performed outside of her own home prior to the recording session. Beyond that, most of the Jobim songs recorded here also became standards of the genre -- "Corcovado" (which featured another vocal by Astrud), "So Danço Samba," "O Grande Amor," a new version of "Desafinado." With such uniformly brilliant material, it's no wonder the album was such a success but, even apart from that, the musicians all play with an effortless grace that's arguably the fullest expression of bossa nova's dreamy romanticism ever brought to American listeners. Getz himself has never been more lyrical, and Gilberto and Jobim pull off the harmonic and rhythmic sophistication of the songs with a warm, relaxed charm. This music has nearly universal appeal; it's one of those rare jazz records about which the purist elite and the buying public are in total agreement. Beyond essential.

Some of the most relaxing music you'll ever hear. Pour yourself a cocktail (not a beer as this music calls for a mixed drink), turn down the lights, put this album on, sit back and enjoy. As I write this, it is about 7 AM (so it's coffee, no cocktail) and I'm now too relaxed to go to work. You think my bosses will accept that excuse? "Sorry, I won't be in today. Getz/Gilberto. You understand."

Reviews/ratings:

• Stereo Review: Recording of Special Merit
• High Fidelity: "delectable music"
• DownBeat (★★★★½ ): "Getz is superb on this record."
• Billboard: Best of the Month
• Record World: "It'll be a classic"
• CashBox: "This is a purposeful fusion of talents resulting in a rejuvenation of the bossa nova"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★★

Update: In 2017, it was ranked at #103 on Pitchfork's list of the 200 Best Albums of the 1960s.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #2

Tracks: Yeah, they're all good. The bonus tracks are simply the 45 single edits of The Girl From Ipanema and Corcovado (Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I didn't discover this beauty until later in life (probably the late '90s), but that's probably for the best. If I had heard this when I was a teenager, I probably would have rolled my eyes and said something like, "That's the kind of music my parents listen to."