 Images of Brazil's tropical beaches and even thoughts about
those are often accompanied by the music of Antônio Carlos "Tom" Jobim
(1927-1994). His compositions have traveled all over the world, interpreted
by musicians of all styles. Tom Jobim's influence on contemporary
popular music is immense. It's unquestionable that his role in
the Bossa Nova movement is among Jobim's greatest contributions.
The artistic life of the composer, pianist, guitarist and singer is
documented on three DVD's that each carries the name of one of
his world famous compositions.
The first part of the trilogy on Jobim's life is called No
More Blues. It's the title of the English version for "Chega
de Saudade." "Saudade" is a unique Portuguese word,
roughly meaning something like a melancholic kind of longing for home,
friends or certain sentiments. When a Brazilian is hurt by those feelings,
he'll start looking for something "pra matar as saudades,"
to kill those feelings of saudades. That's exactly what this
first DVD is about. We go back in time, to the creative days of one
of the world's greatest composers, Brazil's ambassador
of song, Tom Jobim.
The biography is narrated by Nelson Motta. Of course there's a lot
of music on the DVD, too. The film starts with nostalgic sepia images
of old Rio de Janeiro, accompanied by Jobim and his wife Ana singing "Eu
Não Existo sem Você."
Along the way we're generously treated with songs performed by
the master himself, accompanied by his Banda Nova in Rio de Janeiro
(1985) and São Paulo (1990), as well as highlights from a tribute
to Jobim (who passed away in 1994 in New York) on the beach of Copacabana
on New Year's Eve 1996 by some of Brazil's biggest stars
(Caetano Veloso, Milton
Nascimento, Chico Buarque, Gal
Costa, Gilberto
Gil and Paulinho
da Viola, backed-up by a huge orchestra).
 The
middle part of the trilogy (Waters of March) deals with
the ecological interests of Tom Jobim. An interest that he shared with
the musician he was most influenced by: Heitor
Villa-Lobos. Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
has been without any doubt as important to Brazilian music as Jobim.
They were both innovators with an enormous impact on respectively classical
and popular Brazilian Music. On this DVD one of Jobim's musical
partners, lyricist/composer/singer Chico Buarque de Holanda, tells
us everything about the master's interest in nature, illustrated
by beautiful and sometimes confronting images. Buarque quotes Jobim
with a rather typical thought about music and nature: "My music
owes a lot to mountains, to the sea, to beaches, to birds and, of course
we can't forget, to Brazilian women who are also part of the
ecology…" A huge part of the DVD features compositions
of Jobim related to nature. Of all these compositions "Waters
of March" (Águas de Março) is the most dominating.
A famous rendition of the song is the one Jobim recorded with the legendary
singer Elis Regina (1945-1982) for the album Tom & Elis in 1974
(Los Angeles). This historical performance is one of the absolute highlights
on the DVD set. Most of the rest of the music on DVD 2 features Jobim
with his Banda Nova.
 The
last part of the set (She's a Carioca) tells about the love
of Jobim for his hometown, Rio de Janeiro. In an interview that was
recorded in 1967 and is illustrated by nostalgic images, Tom Jobim
talks about his earliest memories of Rio de Janeiro. He felt happy,
enjoying the good things of life, among which a good glass of whisky.
It's no secret that Jobim loved the drink. Together with his
music buddy Vinícius de Moraes many hours were spent at the
bar. Their most famous hang-out was bar Veloso, close to Ipanema beach,
where the two enjoyed watching the girls passing by on their way to
the refreshing ocean. One of them inspired them to one of the most
covered songs in the world: "A Garota de Ipanema" (1962)
or "The Girl from Ipanema," as the translation by Norman
Gimbel goes. The rendition we hear on the DVD is underlined by wonderful
images of the renowned beach area. It's clear that Jobim had
a good time as a Carioca. During his many get-togethers in Rio's
music scene a revolutionary new music style was born. The style fitted
the city in a most remarkable way: Bossa Nova. The music conquered
the world and can nestle itself easily in quasi all music styles; pop,
rock, jazz or even hip-hop, … Whichever style it's mixed
with, it always leaves the listener with images of Rio de Janeiro,
the city of the Cariocas. The DVD ends with romantic night views of
Rio de Janeiro, its beaches, the Lapa district, Corcovado Mountain;
accompanied by music from the Reveillon 1996 tribute concert.
Antônio Carlos Jobim, his musical heritage to the world is of
invaluable importance; truly the Brazilian ambassador of song. This
DVD set tells us why, in a beautiful and musically illustrated way.
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