Search - Antonio Carlos Jobim :: Composer of Desafindo

Lazy Day Music

Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 02/13/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Based on the mostly ultra-positive reviews here, you would think that this is the one of the finest recordings ever issued. Well, I'm not a bandwagon guy and if I am overly excited about an album, I put it away to listen later to see if I hear it the same way again. And so it is with this as I listen again after a long cooling off period.

I like Antonio Carlos Jobim and own many of his recordings. Most, if not all of the songs on The Composer of Desafinado Plays can be found on other Jobim recordings and often better performed. This CD is more intimate in some ways than his others, but it is more of a reworked "best of" compilation than something new.

This album is great lazy day music, perfect for kicking back with a steamy cup of hot java and washing your cares away. Listen closely to Jobim's over-dubbed one hand piano style and Jimmy Cleveland's ever so smooth trombone! Some reviewers complain of Claus Ogerman's over-orchestration. I concur, but it is really no worse than what is done on Jobim's excellent A&M and CTI issues. My main issue with this CD is that at 35 minutes, it is far too short. Bonus tracks should definitely have been provided. Perhaps Verve feels it makes up for the paucity of music by providing listeners with a handsome booklet that contains an interview with an arranger that relates to Jobim's music and also commentary on each song. I'd rather have heard more music.

Favorites here include Agua de Beber, Insensatez, Samba de Uma Nota So, Chega de Saudade, and of course the immortal Desafinado. Though this is not what I'd call a "desert island" recording (that honor goes to Jobim's Stone Flower), it certainly won't gather dust at my place."