''The Composer of Desafinado, Plays'' is the first album by

Antônio Carlos Jobim 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 as one of the great exponents of Brazilian ...

. 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 Jobim. Of these twelve songs, nearly all of them are jazz standards. The opening track "The Girl from Ipanema" is believed to be the second most recorded song in history behind

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' " Yesterday," and a recording of the song by Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz became a worldwide hit in 1964. Jobim plays both guitar and piano on the album, the latter of which producers resisted because they wanted to present the image of the Latin man and his guitar, which is evident from the album cover itself. Jobim, in a 1988 interview on NPR's ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's hosts are Terry Gross and Tonya Mosl ...

'' with

Terry Gross Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of '' Fresh Air'', an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining NP ...

, recalled this struggle with American producers:

...when I got to the stage, they wouldn't let me play piano here. You know, they said, listen, Antonio, you've got to be the Latin lover. You should play the guitar. You know, if you play the piano you destroy the whole image, you know? So I've been playing guitar for many, many years, you know, which was let's say my second instrument. That was an instrument that I used to play by ear, you know?

The album was inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2007, ''Rolling Stone Brasil'' ranked it number 58 in "''Os 100 Maiores Discos da Música Brasileira"'' ( The 100 greatest Brazilian music records). Pete Welding of ''Down Beat'' said, "If the bossa nova movement had produced only this record, it would already be fully justified."

Track listing

All songs written by Antônio Carlos Jobim, lyricists indicated. This album contains all-instrumental versions of these tunes. # "

The Girl from Ipanema "Garota de Ipanema" (), or "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 a ...

" (

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 playwrig ...

Norman Gimbel Norman Gimbel (November 16, 1927 – December 19, 2018) was an American lyricist and songwriter of popular songs and themes to television shows and films. He wrote the lyrics for songs including " Ready to Take a Chance Again" (with composer Cha ...

) — 2:42 # " Amor em Paz" ("Once I Loved") (Vinicius de Moraes) — 3:36 # " Agua de Beber" (Vinicius de Moraes, Norman Gimbel) — 2:50 # " Vivo Sonhando" — 2:35 # " O Morro Não Tem Vez" (Vinicius de Moraes) — 3:20 # " Insensatez" (Vinicius de Moraes) — 2:53 # "

Corcovado Corcovado () which means " hunchback" in Portuguese, is a mountain in central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a granite peak located in the Tijuca Forest, a national park. Corcovado hill lies just west of the city center but is wholly within t ...

" — 2:25 # " One Note Samba" (

Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and re ...

, Newton Mendonça) — 2:14 # "

Meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

" (Norman Gimbel, Newton Mendonça) — 3:15 # " Só Danço Samba" (Vinicius de Moraes) — 2:21 # " Chega de Saudade" (Vinicius de Moraes) — 4:19 # "

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 "Des ...

" (Newton Mendonça) — 2:44

Personnel

*Antônio Carlos Jobim - piano, guitar *

George Duvivier George Duvivier (August 17, 1920 – July 11, 1985) was an American jazz double-bassist. Biography Duvivier was born in New York City, the son of Leon V. Duvivier and Ismay Blakely Duvivier. He attended the Conservatory of Music and Art, where ...

- double bass *Edison Machado - drums * Leo Wright - flute *

Jimmy Cleveland James Milton Cleveland (May 3, 1926 – August 23, 2008) was an American jazz trombonist born in Wartrace, Tennessee.

- trombone (tracks: 3, 4, 9, 12) *String section (tracks: 1-12, except 3, 5, 8, 10) ) * Claus Ogerman -

string arrangements The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

, conducting

References

1963 debut albums Albums arranged by Claus Ogerman Albums produced by Creed Taylor Antônio Carlos Jobim albums Verve Records albums Latin Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients {{Brazil-album-stub