Antônio Carlos Jobim

Antônio Carlos Jobim

born on 25/1/1927 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

died on 8/12/1994 in New York City, NY, United States

Alias Tom Jobim

Antonio Carlos Jobim

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Antonio Carlos Jobim

Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (January 25, 1927 –December 8, 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (Portuguese pronunciation: [tõ ob]), was a Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist. He was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within Brazil and internationally.

Widely known as the composer of "The Girl from Ipanema" (Garota de Ipanema), one of the most recorded songs of all time, Jobim has left a large number of songs that are today included in the standard Jazz and Pop repertoires.

Early life

Antonio Carlos Jobim was born in the middle-class district of Tijuca, in Rio de Janeiro. His father Jorge de Oliveira Jobim (São Gabriel, Rio Grande do Sul, April 23, 1889 - July 19, 1935) was a writer, diplomat, professor and journalist. He came from a prominent family, being the great-grand nephew of José Martins da Cruz Jobim,[1] senator, privy councillor and physician of Emperor Dom Pedro II. While studying medicine in Europe, José Martins added Jobim to his last name, paying homage to the village where his family came from in Portugal, the parish of Santa Cruz de Jovim, Porto.[2][3]

When Antonio was still an infant, his parents separated and his mother, Nilza Brasileiro de Almeida (c. 1910 - November 17, 1989), moved with her children (Antonio Carlos and his sister Helena Isaura, born February 23, 1931) to Ipanema, the beachside neighborhood the composer would later celebrate in his songs. In 1935, when the elder Jobim died, Nilza married Celso da Frota Pessoa (died February 2, 1979), who would encourage his stepson's career. He was the one that gave Jobim his first piano. As a young man of limited means, Jobim earned his living by playing in nightclubs and bars and later as an arranger for a recording label, before starting to achieve success as a composer.

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. Among his teachers were Lúcia Branco, and, from 1941 on, Hans-Joachim Koellreutter. Jobim was also influenced by the French composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, and by jazz. Among many themes, his lyrics talked about love, self discovery, betrayal, joy and especially about the birds and natural wonders of Brazil, like the "Mata Atlântica" forest, characters of Brazilian folklore like Matita Pereira (Saci Pererê), and his home city of Rio de Janeiro.

Career

Jobim became prominent in Brazil when he teamed up with poet and diplomat Vinícius 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). Moraes 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.

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 with Charlie Byrd (1962), and Jazz Samba Encore! with Luiz Bonfá (1964). 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", into an international sensation. At the Grammy Awards of 1965 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.

Personal life

Jobim was married to Thereza Otero Hermanny on October 15, 1949 and had two children with her: Paulo Jobim (born August 4, 1950), an architect and musician, married and father of Daniel Jobim and Dora Jobim (born May 6, 1976); and Elizabeth "Beth" Jobim (born August 26, 1957), a painter. Jobim and Hermanny divorced in 1978. On April 30, 1986 he married photographer Ana Beatriz Lontra, born in 1957, daughter of Álvaro Augusto da Fonseca Lontra and Esmeralda Lemos, with whom he had two more children: João Francisco Jobim (October 30, 1979 July 21, 1998) and Maria Luiza Helena Jobim (born March 20, 1987). His grandson Daniel Jobim (born February 23, 1973), Paulo's son, followed his grandfather's steps, becoming a pianist and composer.

Death

In early 1994, after finishing his album Antonio Brasileiro, Jobim complained to his doctor, Roberto Hugo Costa Lima, of urinary problems, which included urinating blood. A bladder tumor was detected, but Jobim postponed the recommended immediate surgery for several months, while he tried spiritual treatment with a Brazilian medium and started working with his album Tom Jobim. After receiving a message allegedly coming from Frederik von Stein, a dead German doctor, that recommended not having the surgery, Jobim decided to stop listening to the spiritual guidance and have the surgery instead. He was operated in Mount Sinai Hospital, in New York, on December 2, 1994. On December 8, while recovering from surgery, he had a cardiac arrest caused by a pulmonary embolism and two hours later another cardiac arrest, from which he died.[4] His last words were: "Remember me". He was survived by his children and grandchildren. His last album, Antonio Brasileiro, was released three days after his death.[5]

Jobim's body was flown back to Brazil on December 9, 1994 and was given a private funeral on December 13, 1994 in Rio de Janeiro. His family, his friends Miúcha, Edu Lobo, João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto and his close friends came to his funeral. His body lay in state until given a proper burial on December 20, 1994. He is buried in the Cemitério São João Batista in Rio de Janeiro.[6]

Legacy

Jobim is one of the most important songwriters of the 20th century. Many of Jobim's songs are jazz standards. 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. The 1996 CD Wave: The Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook included performances of Jobim tunes by Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Toots Thielemans. Jobim was an innovator in the use of sophisticated harmonic structures in popular song. Some of his melodic twists, like the melody insisting on the major seventh of the chord, became common use in Jazz and easy listening music after him. [7] The Brazilian collaborators and interpreters of Jobim's music include João Gilberto (often credited as a co-creator of bossa nova), Chico Buarque, Gal Costa, Elis Regina, Sérgio Mendes, Astrud Gilberto, and Flora Purim. Eumir Deodato and the conductor/composer Claus Ogerman arranged many recordings of Jobim tunes.[8]

Discography

Studio albums

  • 1963: The Composer of Desafinado, Plays
  • 1965: The Wonderful World of Antonio Carlos Jobim
  • 1967: Wave
  • 1967: A Certain Mr. Jobim
  • 1970: Stone Flower
  • 1970: Tide
  • 1972: Look to the Sky
  • 1973: Matita Perê
  • 1973: Jobim
  • 1974: Elis & Tom (with Elis Regina)
  • 1976: Urubu
  • 1977: Miúcha & Antonio Carlos Jobim - Vol. 1 (with Miúcha)
  • 1979: Miúcha & Antonio Carlos Jobim - Vol. 2 (with Miúcha)
  • 1980: Terra Brasilis
  • 1981: Edu & Tom (with Edu Lobo)
  • 1987: Passarim
  • 1987: Inédito
  • 1989: Echoes of Rio
  • 1994: Miúcha e Tom Jobim (with Miúcha)
  • 1994: Antonio Brasileiro
  • 1998: Tom Jobim (Brazil only)
  • 2000: Dwee Do Da Bop

Compilations

  • 1999: The Best of Tom Jobim
  • 2000: The Tom Jobim Sessions (outtakes with various artists)
  • 2002: The Outtakes (outtakes as a solo artist)
  • 2006: Sinatra-Jobim (outtakes with Frank Sinatra)
  • 2009: The Complete Tom Jobim (boxset)

Live albums

Soundtracks

  • 1959: Black Orpheus (Soundtrack)
  • 1970: The Adventurers (Soundtrack)
  • 1983: Gabriela, Cravo e Canela (Soundtrack)[9]
  • 1986: Moments of Play (Soundtrack)[10]

As contributor

  • 1958: Canção do Amor Demais - Elizete Cardoso
  • 1959: Amor de gente moça - Silvia Telles
  • 1959: Chega de Saudade - João Gilberto
  • 1959: Por tôda a minha vida - Lenita Bruno
  • 1960: O Amor, o Sorriso e a Flor - João Gilberto
  • 1965: The Swinger from Rio - Sérgio Mendes
  • 1966: Love, Strings and Jobim

With Stan Getz

  • 1962: Jazz Samba
  • 1963: Getz/Gilberto
  • 1963: Jazz Samba Encore!
  • 1964: Getz/Gilberto Vol. 2
  • 2007: Greatest Hits

With Frank Sinatra

  • 1967: Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
  • 1971: Sinatra & Company
  • 1979: Sinatra-Jobim Sessions
  • 1994: Duets II

Compositions

  • "A Felicidade"
  • "Agua de Beber"
  • "As Praias Desertas"
  • "Águas de Março" (Waters of March)
  • "Chega de Saudade" (No More Blues)
  • "Corcovado" (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)
  • "Desafinado" (Slightly Out of Tune)
  • "Dindi"
  • "Favela"
  • "Garota de Ipanema" (The Girl From Ipanema)
  • "Insensatez (How Insensitive)"
  • "Inútil Paisagem (If You Never Come to Me)"
  • "Look to the Sky"
  • "Meditação" (Meditation)
  • "O Amor Em Paz" (Once I Loved)
  • "Passarim"
  • "Sabia"
  • "Samba de Uma Nota Só" (One Note Samba)
  • "So Danço Samba"
  • "Só Tinha De Ser Com Você
  • "Se Todos Fossem Iguais A Você (Someone to Light Up My Life)"
  • "Triste"
  • "Vivo Sonhando" (Dreamer)
  • "Vou te Contar" (Wave)

Concert films

Notes

  1. Programa Roda Viva (TV Cultura), entrevista TOM JOBIM Domingo, 19 de Dezembro de 1993 (PGM0385) Online transcription and video of the interview
  2. CORADINI, O. L.: Important families and the professional elite within brazilian medicine. História, Ciências, SaúdeManguinhos, III (3) 425-466, Nov. 1996-Feb. 1997. Online .pdf
  3. SILVA, Innocencio Francisco da Diccionario Bibliographico Portuguez: Applicaveis a Portugal e ao Brasil, Lisboa 1860, pg. 62
  4. Cabral, Sergio (2008). Antonio Carlos Jobim - Uma Biografia (1st Edition ed.). São Pulo, Brazil: IBEP Nacional. ISBN 8578650115
  5. Newsweek Archives.
  6. FindAGrave.com link to Jobim's burial
  7. MacDowell, Joao; The Harmonic Development of Brazilian Song, Rio de Janeiro,1999.
  8. 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.
  9. IMDB Soundtrack listing
  10. Moments of Play at the danish film institute (in danish)
  11. VIEW Video DVD Listing

References

  • McGowan, Chris; Pessanha, Ricardo (1998). The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil, 2nd edition, Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
  • Castro, Ruy (2000). Bossa Nova: The Story of the Brazilian Music That Seduced the World, 1st English-Language Edition, Chicago, IL: A Capella Books.
  • Cabral, Sergio (2008). Antonio Carlos Jobim - Uma Biografia, 1st Edition, São Pulo, Brazil: IBEP Nacional.

External links

  • Nos Bastidores do legendario concerto da bossa nova no Carnegie Hall in 1962
  • Jobim Guitar Tab Archives & Song Lyrics Page
  • Antônio Carlos Jobim page at The Brazilian Sound
  • Antônio Carlos Jobim at Find-A-Grave
  • Interview, 1988
  • Antônio Carlos Jobim: Clube do Tom
  • Remembering Antonio Carlos Jobim
  • Tribute to Tom Jobim Website
This page was last modified 13.01.2012 08:04:26

This article uses material from the article Antonio Carlos Jobim from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.