When Creed Taylor left Verve/MGM for his own label under the auspices of A&M, he quickly signed Antonio Carlos Jobim and they picked up right where they left off with this stunningly seductive record, possibly Jobim's best. Jobim contributes his sparely rhythmic acoustic guitar, simple melodic piano style, a guest turn at the harpsichord, and even a vocal on "Lamento," while Claus Ogerman lends a romantically brooding hand with the charts.
Direct from Brazil comes this deeply appreciative musical tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994), co-founder and leading composer of the Bossa Nova.
With over four hundred songs to his credit, Jobim virtually single-handedly brought the Bossa Nova to the world, where it became a staple ingredient in the jazz cookbook. Jobim's new sound adapted the rhythmic variety and percussive excitement of the samba to the intimacy of syncopated guitar, while echoing the melodies and harmonies of cool jazz.
Brazil's towering figure of bossa nova, both as a performer and, even more importantly, as a composer.
It has been said that Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim was the George Gershwin of Brazil, and there is a solid ring of truth in that, for both contributed large bodies of songs to the jazz repertoire, both expanded their reach into the concert hall, and both tend to symbolize their countries in the eyes of the rest of the world. With their gracefully urbane, sensuously aching melodies and harmonies, Jobim's songs gave jazz musicians in the 1960s a quiet, strikingly original alternative to their traditional Tin Pan Alley source.