Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered one of the great exponents of Brazilian music, Jobim internationalized
bossa nova
Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...
and, with the help of important American artists, merged it with jazz in the 1960s to create a new sound, with popular success. As a result, he is sometimes known as the "father of bossa nova".
Jobim was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists internationally since the early 1960s.
In 1965, the album ''
Getz/Gilberto
''Getz/Gilberto'' is an album by American saxophonist Stan Getz and Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, featuring pianist and composer Antônio Carlos Jobim (Tom Jobim), who also composed many of the tracks. It was released in March 1964 by Verv ...
'' was the first jazz record to win the
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
for
Album of the Year. It also won
Best Jazz Instrumental Album – Individual or Group and
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes:
* In 1959, the award was known as Best Engineered Record – Non-Classical
* In 1960, it was awarded as Best Engineeri ...
. The album's single '"
Garota de Ipanema (The Girl from Ipanema)'", composed by Jobim, has become one of the most recorded songs of all time, and the album won the
Record of the Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...
. Jobim composed many songs that are now included in
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
and pop standard repertoires. "Garota de Ipanema" has been recorded over 240 times by other artists.
His 1967 album with
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
, ''
Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim
''Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim'' is a 1967 album by Frank Sinatra and Antônio Carlos Jobim. The tracks were arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman, accompanied by a studio orchestra. Along with Jobim's original compositions, t ...
'', was nominated for Album of the Year in 1968.
Early life
Antônio Carlos Jobim was born in the middle-class district of
Tijuca
Tijuca () (meaning marsh or swamp in the Tupi language, from ''ty'' ("water") and ''îuk'' ("rotten")) is a neighbourhood of the Northern Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It comprises the region of Saens Peña and Afonso Pena squar ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
. His father, Jorge de Oliveira Jobim (
São Gabriel, Rio Grande do Sul; 1889–1935), was a writer, diplomat, professor and journalist. He came from a prominent family, being the great-nephew of
José Martins da Cruz Jobim,
senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
,
privy councillor and physician of Emperor
Dom Pedro II
Dom PedroII (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed "the Magnanimous" ( pt, O Magnânimo), was the second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. He was born in Rio de Janeiro, the seventh child of Em ...
. His mother, Nilza Brasileiro de Almeida ( 1910–1989), was of partly Indigenous descent from Northeastern Brazil. Brasileiro de Almeida was only 16 years old when she gave birth to Antônio Carlos Jobim at their home in Tijuca on Rua Conde de Bonfim.
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
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
.
When Antônio was still an infant, his parents separated and his mother moved with her children (Antônio Carlos and his sister Helena Isaura, born 23 February 1931) to
Ipanema
Ipanema () is a neighbourhood located in the South Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between Leblon and Arpoador. The beach at Ipanema became known internationally with the popularity of the bossa nova jazz song, "The Girl from Ipa ...
, 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 2 February 1979), who would encourage his stepson's career. He was the one who gave Jobim his first piano. Jobim credits his stepfather, Celso da Frota Pessoa, with encouraging him to pursue music. In an interview with
Roberto d'Ávila in 1981, he said, "I hated the piano, I thought it was a girly thing, I liked to play soccer...I had a great stepfather who really helped me get involved with music and convinced me that the piano was not a girly thing."
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.
Later on in the interview with Roberto d’Ávila, Jobim talks about his feelings toward his upbringing. He notes a conversation he had with a friend of his father’s,
Erico Verissimo
Érico Lopes Verissimo (December 17, 1905 – November 28, 1975) was an important Brazilian writer, born in the State of Rio Grande do Sul.
Biography
Érico Verissimo was the son of Sebastião Verissimo da Fonseca and Abegahy Lopes Verissimo. H ...
, where Verissimo said that Tom Jobim should be somber due to the absence of his father from a young age. Jobim told d'Ávila, “I was left without a father, clinging to my mother’s skirts…some
enhave ‘excessive’ fathers, the excessive presence of their fathers is a problem, but the absence of a father is also a problem.”
Jobim continued with d’Ávila, sharing that it takes something of great influence to bring someone to dedicate their life to music. He said that, “people who play the piano well are all handicapped.” He mentions the health struggles of both
Sergio Mendes
Sergio may refer to:
* Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio
* Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found
* ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass
* ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film
* ''Se ...
who had
osteomyelitis
Osteomyelitis (OM) is an infection of bone. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The long bones of the arms and legs are most commonly involved in children e.g. the femur and humerus, while the ...
and
Luiz Eça
Luiz Mainzi da Cunha Eça (April 3, 1936 – May 24, 1992) was a samba and bossa nova pianist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who was a member of the Tamba Trio with Helcio Milito and Bebeto Castilho. Trained as a classical pianist, Eça create ...
who had
polio
Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...
. “It takes something really strong to make you leave reality behind and begin to write songs,” Jobim shared. With d’Ávila he alludes to his sadness as a young man as being the driving force that motivated him to further his pursuit in music, that he needed to be sad in order to play the piano and write. He concludes on the topic with d’Ávila that, at that point in his life (the interview having took place in 1981) that he no longer needed to be sad to create music, that he was no longer sad as he was at the beginning of his career.
Musical influences
Jobim's musical roots were planted firmly in the work of
Pixinguinha
Alfredo da Rocha Viana Filho, known as Pixinguinha (; April 23, 1897February 17, 1973) was a Brazilian composer, arranger, flautist and saxophonist born in Rio de Janeiro. Pixinguinha is considered one of the greatest Brazilian composers of pop ...
, 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
Hans-Joachim Koellreutter (2 September 1915 – 13 September 2005) was a Brazilian composer, teacher and musicologist.
Koellreutter was born in Freiburg, Germany and lived in Brazil from 1937 onward, where he became one of the country's most i ...
, a German composer who lived in Brazil and introduced
atonal
Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on a ...
and
twelve-tone composition in the country. Jobim's mother established a school where Jobim would begin taking lessons on the piano, this is when he would meet
Hans-Joachim Koellreutter
Hans-Joachim Koellreutter (2 September 1915 – 13 September 2005) was a Brazilian composer, teacher and musicologist.
Koellreutter was born in Freiburg, Germany and lived in Brazil from 1937 onward, where he became one of the country's most i ...
.
Jobim was also influenced by the French composers
Claude Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
and
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
, and by the Brazilian composers
Ary Barroso
Ary de Resende Barroso (1903–1964), better known as Ary Barroso, was a Brazilian composer, pianist, soccer commentator, and talent-show host on radio and TV. He was one of Brazil's most successful songwriters in the first half of the 20th centur ...
and
Heitor Villa-Lobos, who has been described as Jobim's "most important musical influence." 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 and his home city of
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
. In a segment with the
NBC Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...
in 1986, hosted by
Jane Pauley
Margaret Jane Pauley (born October 31, 1950) is an American television host, and author, active in news reporting since 1972. Pauley first became widely known as Barbara Walters's successor on the NBC morning show ''Today'', beginning at the age ...
, Jobim talks about his music's origins of inspiration saying, "my music comes from this environment here, you know, the rain, the sun, the trees, the birds, the fish.”
Career
In the 1940s, Jobim started to play piano in bars and nightclubs of Rio de Janeiro, and in the first years of the 1950s, he worked as an arranger in the Continental Studio, where he had his first composition recorded, in April 1953, when the Brazilian singer Mauricy Moura recorded ''Incerteza'', a composition by Tom Jobim with lyrics by
Newton Mendonça Newton Ferreira de Mendonça (February 14, 1927 – November 22, 1960) was a musician, composer, and lyricist. He began as a pianist in 1950.
Mendonça was born in Rio de Janeiro. In 1953 he started working with Antônio Carlos Jobim, somethin ...
.
Jobim became prominent in Brazil when he teamed up with poet and diplomat
Vinicius de Moraes
Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed O Poetinha ("The little poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwright ...
to write the music for the play ''
Orfeu da Conceição'' (1956). The most popular song from the show was "Se Todos Fossem Iguais A Você" ("If Everyone Were Like You"). Later, when the play was adapted 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 ''Orfeu Negro'', or ''
Black Orpheus
''Black Orpheus'' (Portuguese: ''Orfeu Negro'' ) is a 1959 romantic tragedy film made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus and starring Marpessa Dawn and Breno Mello. It is based on the play '' Orfeu da Conceição'' by Vinicius de Morae ...
'' (1959). Moraes was at the time away in
Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
, 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 de Moraes went on to pen the lyrics to some of Jobim's most popular songs.
![Disco de Ouro Passarim](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Disco_de_Ouro_Passarim.jpg)
In 1958 the Brazilian singer and guitarist
João Gilberto
João Gilberto (born João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira – ; 10 June 1931 – 6 July 2019) was a Brazilian guitarist, singer and composer who was a pioneer of the musical genre of bossa nova in the late 1950s. Around the world, he was of ...
recorded his first album with two of the most famous songs of Tom Jobim: ''Desafinado'' and ''Chega de Saudade''. This album inaugurates the Bossa Nova movement in Brazil. The sophisticated harmonies of his songs caught the attention of jazz musicians in the United States, principally after the first performance of Tom Jobim at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
, in 1962.
A key event in making Jobim's music known in the English-speaking world was his collaboration with the American jazz saxophonist
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of ...
, the Brazilian singer
João Gilberto
João Gilberto (born João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira – ; 10 June 1931 – 6 July 2019) was a Brazilian guitarist, singer and composer who was a pioneer of the musical genre of bossa nova in the late 1950s. Around the world, he was of ...
, and Gilberto's wife at the time,
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto (; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, March 29, 1940) is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She gained international attention in the 1960s following her recording of the song "The Girl from Ipanema".
Biography
Astrud Gilbe ...
, which resulted in two albums, ''
Getz/Gilberto
''Getz/Gilberto'' is an album by American saxophonist Stan Getz and Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, featuring pianist and composer Antônio Carlos Jobim (Tom Jobim), who also composed many of the tracks. It was released in March 1964 by Verv ...
'' (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
''Jazz Samba'' is a bossa nova album by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd released by Verve Records in 1962. ''Jazz Samba'' signaled the beginning of the bossa nova craze in America. Stan Getz was the featured soloist and the tracks were arranged by C ...
'' with Charlie Byrd (1962), and ''
Jazz Samba Encore!'' with
Luiz Bonfá
Luiz Floriano Bonfá (17 October 1922 – 12 January 2001) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer. He was best known for the music he composed for the film ''Black Orpheus''.
Biography
Luiz Floriano Bonfá was born on October 17, 1922, in ...
(1964). Jobim wrote many of the songs on ''Getz/Gilberto'', which became one of the best-selling
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
albums of all time, and turned Astrud Gilberto, who sang on "''Garota de Ipanema''" (
The Girl from Ipanema
"Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema") is a Brazilian bossa nova and jazz song. It was a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s and won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Por ...
) and "
''Corcovado''" (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars), into an international sensation. At the
Grammy Awards of 1965
The 7th Annual Grammy Awards were held on April 13, 1965, at Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills. They recognized accomplishments of musicians for the year 1964. João Gilberto & Stan Getz won 4 awards.
Award winners
*Record of the Year
**Astru ...
''Getz/Gilberto'' won the
Grammy Award for Album of the Year
The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regar ...
, the
and the
Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes:
* In 1959, the award was known as Best Engineered Record – Non-Classical
* In 1960, it was awarded as Best Engineeri ...
. "The Girl from Ipanema" won the
Grammy Award for Record of the Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...
. Among his later hits is "''Águas de Março''" (
Waters of March
"Waters of March" ( pt, "Águas de março" ) is a Brazilian song composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim (1927–1994) in 1972. Jobim wrote both the Portuguese and English lyrics. The lyrics, originally written in Portuguese, do not tell a story, but r ...
, 1972), for which he wrote both the Portuguese and English lyrics, and which was then translated into French by
Georges Moustaki
Georges Moustaki (born Giuseppe Mustacchi; 3 May 1934 – 23 May 2013) was an Egyptian-French singer-songwriter of Jewish Italo-Greek origin. He wrote about 300 songs for some of the most popular singers in France, including Édith Piaf, Dalida, ...
(Les Eaux de Mars, 1973).
In talking about his creative process when writing and creating the song,
Girl From Ipanema
"Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema") is a Brazilian bossa nova and jazz song. It was a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s and won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Po ...
, Jobim told
Roberto d’Ávila in 1981, “It comes to me in a way, then it changes one or two times and all of the sudden, it becomes something that makes sense…it’s like the profile of a woman…the profile of a woman, something very discernible, then you say: ‘hey, this is really beautiful…’ then you stare and as soon as you stare, it’s gone, I mean it becomes part of the past.” Jobim continues, “I mean, every time you draw something it turns into, it’s something static…that portrait remains forever.”
Collaboration with Elis Regina c. 1974-1982
Jobim and
Elis Regina
Elis Regina Carvalho Costa (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 2002), known professionally as Elis Regina (), was a Brazilian singer of MPB and jazz music. She is also the mother of the singers Maria Rita and Pedro Mariano.
She became national ...
first met in 1974 in Los Angeles, when Regina was only 29 years old and still a fresh face in the Brazilian music industry. Regina was a force to be reckoned with, being referred to as “furacao” (hurricane in English) by those who worked with and around her. The two artists came together to create the album
“''Elis & Tom''” which would unsuspectingly become tremendously popular in the United States as well as across the globe. Regina and Jobim had a special creative chemistry between them that was noted by those who were present to witness the collaborative process first hand during that era in both of their careers.
Oscar Castro-Neves
Oscar Castro-Neves (May 15, 1940 - September 27, 2013), was a Brazilian guitarist, arranger, and composer who is considered a founding figure in bossa nova.
Biography
He was born in Rio de Janeiro as one of triplets and formed a band with his br ...
, a guitarist-producer who worked with Regina and Jobim on the
“''Elis & Tom''” album in the mid 1970s, recalled in an article with the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', “There was a very fine line between ‘rehearsal’ and ‘hanging out,’ ‘just talking’…it was all that seamless.” Due to the nature of their work relationship, Regina and Jobim grew close and had a symbiosis that is reflected in the result of their work together.
''Aguas de Março'' represents this with the lyrics simulating a banter of finishing each other’s sentences.
Personal life
Jobim was married to Thereza Otero Hermanny on 15 October 1949 and had two children with her: Paulo Jobim (1950–2022), an architect and musician, (father of
Daniel Jobim
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
(born 1973) and Dora Jobim (born 1976)); and Elizabeth "Beth" Jobim (born 1957), a painter. Jobim and Thereza divorced in 1978. On 30 April 1986, he married 29-year-old photographer Ana Beatriz Lontra, with whom he had two more children: João Francisco Jobim (1979–1998) and Maria Luiza Helena Jobim (born 1987). Daniel, Paulo's son, followed his grandfather to become a pianist and composer, and performed "The Girl from Ipanema" during the
opening ceremony of the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
.
Death
![TomJobim](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/TomJobim.jpg)
In early 1994, after finishing his album ''
Antonio Brasileiro
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular mal ...
'', Jobim complained to his doctor, Roberto Hugo Costa Lima, of urinary problems. He underwent an operation at
Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on 2 December 1994. On 8 December, while recovering from surgery, he had a
cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...
caused by a
pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain p ...
, and two hours later, another cardiac arrest, from which he died. He was survived by his children and grandchildren. His last album, ''Antonio Brasileiro'', was released posthumously three days after his death.
His body
lay in state until given a proper burial on 20 December 1994. He is buried in the
Cemitério São João Batista in Rio de Janeiro.
Legacy
![20170823 Plastik zu Ehren Antônio Carlos Jobims](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/20170823_Plastik_zu_Ehren_Ant%C3%B4nio_Carlos_Jobims.jpg)
Jobim is widely regarded as one of the most important songwriters of the 20th century. Many of his songs are
jazz standards
Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list ...
. American jazz singers
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
and
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
prominently featured Jobim's songs on their albums ''
Ella Abraça Jobim
''Ella Abraça Jobim'' or ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook'' is a 1981 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald, devoted to the songs of Antônio Carlos Jobim.
It was reissued on CD in 1991, although the CD version does not inclu ...
'' (1981) and ''
Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim
''Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim'' is a 1967 album by Frank Sinatra and Antônio Carlos Jobim. The tracks were arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman, accompanied by a studio orchestra. Along with Jobim's original compositions, t ...
'' (1967), respectively. The 1996 CD ''Wave: The Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook'' included performances of Jobim tunes by
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...
,
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...
,
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...
and
Toots Thielemans
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans, was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for his chromatic harmonica playing, as well as his guitar and whistl ...
.
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 commonplace in jazz after he used them.
The Brazilian collaborators and interpreters of Jobim's music include
Vinicius de Moraes
Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed O Poetinha ("The little poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwright ...
,
João Gilberto
João Gilberto (born João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira – ; 10 June 1931 – 6 July 2019) was a Brazilian guitarist, singer and composer who was a pioneer of the musical genre of bossa nova in the late 1950s. Around the world, he was of ...
(often credited as a co-creator or creator of bossa nova),
Chico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...
,
Edu Lobo
Eduardo de Góes "Edu" Lobo (born August 29, 1943) is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and composer.
In the 1960s he was part of the bossa nova movement.
His compositions include ''Upa Neguinho'' (with Gianfrancesco Guarnieri), ''Pra Dizer Ad ...
,
Gal Costa
Gal Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos (born Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos; 26 September 1945 – 9 November 2022), known professionally as Gal Costa (), was a Brazilian singer of popular music. She was one of the main figures of the tro ...
,
Elis Regina
Elis Regina Carvalho Costa (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 2002), known professionally as Elis Regina (), was a Brazilian singer of MPB and jazz music. She is also the mother of the singers Maria Rita and Pedro Mariano.
She became national ...
,
Sérgio Mendes
Sérgio Santos Mendes (; born February 11, 1941) is a Brazilian musician. His career took off with worldwide hits by his group Brasil '66. He has over 55 releases and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk. He was nominated for ...
,
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto (; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, March 29, 1940) is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She gained international attention in the 1960s following her recording of the song "The Girl from Ipanema".
Biography
Astrud Gilbe ...
and
Flora Purim
Flora Purim (born March 6, 1942) is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Return to Forever with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke. She has recorded and performed with nu ...
. Significant arrangements of Jobim's compositions were written by
Eumir Deodato
Eumir Deodato de Almeida (; born 22 June 1942) is a Brazilian pianist, composer, arranger and record producer, primarily in jazz but who has been known for his eclectic melding of genres, such as pop, rock, disco, rhythm and blues, classical, ...
,
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records ...
, and especially the conductor/composer
Claus Ogerman
Claus Ogerman (born Klaus Ogermann; 29 April 1930 – 8 March 2016) was a German arranger, conductor, and composer best known for his work with Billie Holiday, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra, Michael Brecker, and Diana Krall.
Life and wor ...
.
He won a
Lifetime Achievement Award
Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions.
Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include:
A
* A.C. ...
at the
54th Grammy Awards in 2012. As a posthumous homage, on 5 January 1999, the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro changed the name of Rio's
Galeão International Airport Galeão (Portuguese meaning galleon) may refer to:
*Galeão Air Force Base, a Brazilian Air Force base in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport (Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport), an airport in t ...
, located on
Governador Island
Governador Island (Ilha do Governador, in Portuguese; literally Governor's Island, in English) is the largest island in Guanabara Bay, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It has a population of about 211,018 inhabitants, in a small area of .
Rio de Jane ...
, to bear the composer's name. Galeão Airport is explicitly mentioned in his composition "
Samba do Avião "Samba do Avião" (), also known as "Song of the Jet", is a Brazilian song composed in 1962 by Antônio Carlos Jobim, who also wrote the original Portuguese lyrics. The English-language lyrics are by Gene Lees.
In the biography ''Antonio Carlos Job ...
". In 2014, Jobim was posthumously inducted to the
Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame (LSHOF) ( es, El Pabellón De La Fama De Los Compositores Latinos) is an honor by its board of directors to "educate, preserve, honor and celebrate the legacy of the greatest Latin songwriters from all over the wo ...
. In 2015, ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' named Jobim as one of The 30 Most Influential Latin Artists of All Time.
American contemporary jazz singer
Michael Franks dedicated his 1995 album ''
Abandoned Garden'' to the memory of Jobim. English singer/songwriter
George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...
frequently acknowledged Jobim's influence. His 1996 album ''
Older
Older is the comparative form of "old".
It may also refer to:
Music:
* ''Older'' (album), the third studio album from George Michael (released in 1996)
** "Older" (George Michael song)
* "Older", a song on the 1999 album '' Long Tall Weekend'' ...
'' was dedicated to Jobim, and he recorded "
Desafinado
"Desafinado" (a Portuguese word, usually rendered into English as "Out of Tune", or as "Off Key") is a 1959 bossa nova song and jazz standard composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim with lyrics (in Portuguese) by Newton Mendonça.
Background
"Desafin ...
" on ''
Red Hot + Rio
''Red Hot + Rio'' is a compilation album produced by Béco Dranoff and Paul Heck as part of the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series intended to promote AIDS awareness. This installment is a contemporary tribute to the bossa nova sound, especially the mus ...
'' (1996) with Astrud Gilberto.
The official mascot of the
2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro,
Tom, was named after him.
![Antonio Carlos Jobim and lyricist Vinicius de Moraes Brasilia architecture and music Brasil architectural review 1465 660 341729925](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Antonio_Carlos_Jobim_and_lyricist_Vinicius_de_Moraes_Brasilia_architecture_and_music_Brasil_architectural_review_1465_660_341729925.jpg)
In 2015, a
crater on the planet
Mercury was named in his honor by the
IAU
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...
.
Discography and compositions
::Studio albums
* 1963: ''
The Composer of Desafinado, Plays
''The Composer of Desafinado, Plays'' is the first album by Antônio Carlos Jobim. Released in 1963, the album features a dozen instrumentals arranged by Claus Ogerman, whose work would mark the beginning of a lifelong musical relationship with Jo ...
'' (
Verve
Verve may refer to:
Music
* The Verve, an English rock band
* ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve
* ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album)
* Verve Records, an American jazz record label
Businesses
* Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...
)
* 1965: ''
The Wonderful World of Antônio Carlos Jobim
''The Wonderful World of Antônio Carlos Jobim'' is the second studio album by Antônio Carlos Jobim with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. It was released in 1965 and was number 57 on the US Albums 1965 year-end chart.
Reception
Nelson Riddle’s ...
'' (
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
)
* 1966: ''
Love, Strings and Jobim
''Love, Strings and Jobim'' is a 1966 album by various Brazilian artists who play new Brazilian songs by various composers. Because Antônio Carlos Jobim is pictured on the cover and mentioned in the title, he has been and continues to be credite ...
'' (Warner Bros.)
* 1967: ''
A Certain Mr. Jobim'' (Warner Bros.)
* 1967: ''
Wave
In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (res ...
'' (
CTI/
A&M)
* 1970: ''
Stone Flower'' (CTI)
* 1970: ''
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide t ...
'' (A&M)
* 1973: ''
Jobim'' (
MCA)
* 1976: ''
Urubu'' (Warner Bros.)
* 1980: ''
Terra Brasilis
''Terra Brasilis'' is the 11th album by Antônio Carlos Jobim. It was recorded at the RCA Recording Studios in New York City and released in 1980. The album includes reworkings of old songs as well as new material and placed 42nd on the US Jazz ...
'' (Warner Bros.)
* 1987: ''
Passarim'' (Verve)
* 1995: ''
Antônio Brasileiro
''Antônio Brasileiro'' is the fifteenth album by Antônio Carlos Jobim. It was released days after his death in 1994. The album was completed 11 months before his death, and was a critical and commercial success.
Track listing
# "Só Danço Samb ...
'' (
Columbia)
* 1995: ''
Inédito'' (
Ariola
Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerat ...
)
* 1997: ''Minha Alma Canta'' (Lumiar)
::Collaborations
* 1954: ''Sinfonia do Rio de Janeiro'' (Continental), with Billy Blanco
* 1956: ''
Orfeu da Conceição'' (Odeon), with
Vinicius de Moraes
Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed O Poetinha ("The little poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwright ...
* 1957: "O Pequeno Príncipe" (Festa), an audiobook, which Jobim composed it's soundtrack
* 1961: ''Brasília – Sinfonia Da Alvorada'' (Columbia), with Vinicius de Moraes
* 1964: ''
Getz/Gilberto
''Getz/Gilberto'' is an album by American saxophonist Stan Getz and Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, featuring pianist and composer Antônio Carlos Jobim (Tom Jobim), who also composed many of the tracks. It was released in March 1964 by Verv ...
'' (Verve)
* 1964: ''Caymmi Visita Tom'' (Elenco/Polygram/
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
), with
Dorival Caymmi
Dorival Caymmi (; April 30, 1914 – August 16, 2008) was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actor, and painter active for more than 70 years, beginning in 1933. He contributed to the birth of Brazil's bossa nova movement, and several of his samba ...
* 1967: ''
Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim
''Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim'' is a 1967 album by Frank Sinatra and Antônio Carlos Jobim. The tracks were arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman, accompanied by a studio orchestra. Along with Jobim's original compositions, t ...
'' (Reprise)
* 1974: ''
Elis & Tom
''Elis & Tom'' is a bossa nova album, released in 1974, recorded by Brazilian singer Elis Regina and singer-songwriter Antônio Carlos Jobim.
Recorded over a 16-day period at MGM Studios in Los Angeles, California, the album was an old wish of ...
'' (
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
), with
Elis Regina
Elis Regina Carvalho Costa (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 2002), known professionally as Elis Regina (), was a Brazilian singer of MPB and jazz music. She is also the mother of the singers Maria Rita and Pedro Mariano.
She became national ...
* 1977: ''Miúcha & Antônio Carlos Jobim'' (
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
), with
Miúcha
Heloísa Maria Buarque de Hollanda (30 November 1937 – 27 December 2018), whose artistic name was Miúcha, was a Brazilian singer and composer.
Life and career
Heloisa Maria Buarque de Hollanda was born in Rio de Janeiro. She was the daughter ...
* 1979: ''Miúcha & Tom Jobim'' (
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
), with Miúcha
* 1981: ''Edu & Tom'' (
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
), with
Edu Lobo
Eduardo de Góes "Edu" Lobo (born August 29, 1943) is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and composer.
In the 1960s he was part of the bossa nova movement.
His compositions include ''Upa Neguinho'' (with Gianfrancesco Guarnieri), ''Pra Dizer Ad ...
* 1983: Gabriela (
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
), original soundtrack from the movie "Gabriela, Cravo e Canela"
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
De Stefano, Gildo, ''Il popolo del
samba
Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...
, La vicenda e i protagonisti della storia della
musica popolare brasiliana'', preface by
Chico Buarque de Hollanda
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...
, introduction by
Gianni Minà
Gianni Minà (; Turin, 17 May 1938) is an Italian journalist, writer, magazine editor and television host. He has collaborated with both Italian and International newspapers and magazines; produced hundreds of reports for RAI (''Radiotelevisione ...
, RAI-ERI, Rome 2005,
* De Stefano, Gildo, ''Saudade
Bossa Nova
Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...
: musiche, contaminazioni e ritmi del Brasile'', preface by Chico Buarque, introduction by Gianni Minà, Logisma Editore, Florence 2017,
External links
Antônio Carlos Jobim– tribute site
– remembrance site
*
*
at The Brazilian Sound
– "Clube do Tom"
Antônio Carlos Jobim– behind the scenes of the legendary bossa nova concert at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
in 1962
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jobim, Antonio Carlos
1927 births
1994 deaths
20th-century Brazilian male singers
20th-century Brazilian singers
20th-century composers
20th-century guitarists
20th-century pianists
Bossa nova guitarists
Bossa nova pianists
Bossa nova singers
Brazilian composers
Brazilian expatriates in the United States
Brazilian jazz guitarists
Brazilian jazz pianists
Brazilian jazz singers
Brazilian lyricists
Brazilian male guitarists
Brazilian male singer-songwriters
Brazilian people of Portuguese descent
Brazilian record producers
CTI Records artists
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Jazz record producers
Latin American folk singers
Latin folk guitarists
Latin folk pianists
Latin jazz guitarists
Latin jazz pianists
Latin jazz singers
Latin music songwriters
Male jazz musicians
Male pianists
Música Popular Brasileira guitarists
Música Popular Brasileira pianists
Música Popular Brasileira singers
Musicians from Rio de Janeiro (city)
Verve Records artists
Burials at Cemitério de São João Batista