Brazil — LPs  

A wickedly wonderful album by Jobim – recorded in LA in the mid 60s, and a perfect meeting of styles that makes for one of his most compelling albums of the 60s! Jobim sings and plays over pillowy-soft arrangements by Claus Ogerman – lightly dancing numbers that weave strings and woodwinds into a wave of sound that dips, turns, and sometimes hits a surprisingly nice groove. Dick Hyman plays a bit of organ on the set – which we always love – and Dom Um Romao's working in the group somewhere on drums. Lyrics are in English, sung in a warm and fragile style by Jobim – and the album's got a great organy version of "Surfboard", plus "Zingaro", "Bonita", "Off-Key", and "Photograph".

An incredibly pure moment of genius from Jobim! Features one of the best versions of "Aqua De Marco" ever, done up in these haunting blue chords, backed by great baroque orchestrations, which descend and trail off, then come sweeping back in. The whole album's just as great, with amazing orchestrations and arrangements by Claus Ogerman, and a very deep concept behind Jobim's normally simple compositons. With the tracks "Nuvens Douradas", "Tempo Do Mar", "Ana Luiza", and "Cronica Da Casa Assassinada" – and a haunting English language version of "Aqua De Marco".

Although Herbie and Joao are listed together in the artist credits together for the record, they don't really play together on the record – as did Joao and Stan Getz on their album together. Instead, they trade off tracks of bossa nova material, recorded with Jobim in Rio – Joao's by EMI/Odeon, Herbie's by Atlantic. The set includes a host of great light breezy bossa stuff – like "Amor Em Paz", "O Barquinho", "Bim Bom", "Bolinha De Papel", and "Deve Ser Amor". Not totally over the top, but a very nice batch of breezy bossa tracks with lots of light flute and guitar lines floating around!

A breezy bossa classic from Jobim – recorded in LA, in case you couldn't tell from the cover image that has ol' AC standing with his guitar in a Pacific sunset! The sound's got a nice easy finish – with arrangements by Deodato and Maestro Gaya that are very much in the spirit of Jobim's work for larger ensembles – and the album features darkly sophisticated versions of bossa classics like "Preciso Aprender A Ser So", "Berimbau", "Samba Torto", "Chuva", and "Imagem". Nice stuff, and with a bit more punch than the "love and strings" title might imply!

One of Antonio Carlos Jobim's greatest records – and a perfect blend of his subtle bossa genius with the moody electric sound of CTI! Jobim plays electric and acoustic piano, guitar, and sings a bit – and Deodato handled the arrangements with a breezy brilliance that matches all the magic of Jobim's wonderful compositions, but gives them a slightly more fluid feel too – in a way that's somewhat more sophisticated than the sound of Jobim's previous CTI outings – Tide and Wave. Other players on the album include Joe Farrell on soprano sax, Hubert Laws on flute, and Airto on percussion – and there's a great mix of Brazilian and American styles on the set – electric, sinister, breezy, and always wonderful! Includes the titles "Sabia", "God & The Devil In The Land Of The Sun", "Children's Games", "Stone Flower", "Brazil", "Tereza My Love", and "Choro".

A strangely wonderful album from Jobim – recorded with baroque production by Claus Ogerman, and a style that's similar to the 1973 Jobim album. The sound is perhaps a bit hokey in parts, but most of the time things are pretty sophisticated, with nice jazzy playing Jobim on Fender Rhodes, and some haunting lyrics that differ from the earlier bossa work. Titles include "Boto", "Ligia", "Valse", "Arquitetura De Morar", and "O Homem".

A pretty darn sweet vocal session from the duo of Miucha and Antonio Carlos Jobim – recorded with lots of bossa overtones, very much the same spirit as the legendary Elis & Tom album of the mid 70s! Chico Buarque participates in the session, and Jobim even lends his vocal talents to a track or two – but his real talent, though, is his work on the arrangements – as he gives the whole thing a beautifully dreamy quality, in the manner of his best 70s work, with lots of strange off-kilter melodies floating around the mix of strings, piano, and flute! Miucha's vocals are lovely, and titles include "Sei La A Vida Tem Sempre Razao", "Vai Levando", "Comigo E Assim", "Samba Do Aviao", and "Saia Do Caminho".

A beautiful little album that shows a whole new side of Sinatra! Frank's a bit late on the bossa game – but the record's a wonderfully gentle batch of bossa nova tunes, performed with musical and occasional vocal accompaniment by Jobim, and larger orchestral backings by Claus Ogerman. Far more than a gimmicky fake bossa album – this is a wonderful set of tracks that show that Sinatra could still hit a gentle ballad without going as over the top as he did on some of his other Reprise work. Jobim's talent is very respected – and the record is a true blending of musical styles, in a way that does justice to both artists equally. Titles include "Change Partners", "Dindi", "Meditation", "How Insensitive", and "I Concentrate On You".

One of Antonio Carlos Jobim's greatest records – and a perfect blend of his subtle bossa genius with the moody electric sound of CTI! Jobim plays electric and acoustic piano, guitar, and sings a bit – and Deodato handled the arrangements with a breezy brilliance that matches all the magic of Jobim's wonderful compositions, but gives them a slightly more fluid feel too – in a way that's somewhat more sophisticated than the sound of Jobim's previous CTI outings – Tide and Wave. Other players on the album include Joe Farrell on soprano sax, Hubert Laws on flute, and Airto on percussion – and there's a great mix of Brazilian and American styles on the set – electric, sinister, breezy, and always wonderful! Includes the titles "Sabia", "God & The Devil In The Land Of The Sun", "Children's Games", "Stone Flower", "Brazil", "Tereza My Love", and "Choro".

Charlie Byrd gets some top-shelf treatment here – in a wonderful album of tunes by Antonio Carlos Jobim, all recorded with full backing arrangements, and sound quality that's a lot better than some of Byrd's previous albums! The setting has Charlie's acoustic guitar right up front in the mix – mic'ed so close you can really hear his work on the strings – while light brass, woodwind, and string backings dance nicely, and more quietly, behind him. There's a very Verve-like approach to the whole record – obviously a market that Columbia were trying to reach with this one – and the album's easily one of Charlie's strongest for the label from the 60s. Arrangements are both by Byrd and Tom Newsom – and titles include "Dindi", "Jazz N Samba", "The Girl From Ipanema", "Corcovado", "Amor E Paz", "Samba Do Aviao" and "Amor E Paz".

One of Astrud Gilberto's greatest albums of the 60s – a classic session produced for Verve by Creed Taylor, and featuring sweet gentle arrangements from Marty Paich, co-arranged with Antonio Carlos Jobim, who also plays guitar on the session next to the piano of Joao Donato! That's a mouthful of heavy-hitters, we know – but the result is a totally great session that has Astrud's light and gentle vocals drifting over some of the most magical bossa backings you'll ever hear. The whole thing's great, stuffed with bossa classics done in English – and titles include "Once I Loved", "Aqua De Beber", "O Morro", "Dindi", "Dreamer", and "Photograph".

A treasure trove of 60s Bossa Nova – beautiful recordings, many from the heart of the 60s, all of which capture the sounds and styles of the era and rank among the most massively influential Brazilian music of the period – featuring Elis Regina, Jorge Ben, Tamba Trio, Edu Lobo, Baden Powell & Vinicius De Moraes, Elizete Cardoso and many more! Soul Jazz Records and compiler Stuart Baker set out to make this a definitive bossa compilation and they pretty much nail it! Made as the listening counterpart to the stellar book of album cover art, compiled by Baker and Gilles Peterson. As essential of a compilation as ever released by our friends at Soul Jazz, which is really saying something, because they always raise the bar! Volume Two vinyl includes 17 tracks on 2LPs, with notes and photos on the gatefold interior. Titles include "E De Lei" by Elizete Cardoso, "O Morro Nao Tem Vez" by Antonio Carlos Jobim, "Samba Blim" by Tamba 4, "Tres Pontas" by Milton Nasciemento, "Canto De Xango" by Baden Powell & Vinicius De Moraes, "Carcara" by Zelia Barbosa, "Maria Moita" by Marilia Medalha and more.