Celebrating the Maestro
— The year 2017 would have been Tom Jobim‘s 90th birthday (Rio de Janeiro, January 25, 1927). The date was widely celebrated in Brazil and around the world. Fernanda Cunha did her own tribute, as was the case for several other performers, such as Danilo Caymmi and many more. Having extensively explored Jobim’s works, Mario Adnet would not have been an exception to a well deserving Jobim celebration in 2017. One of Mario Adnet’s first release with Jobim’s music was back in 1999, Para Gershwin e Jobim. Four other albums followed that, including the the 2004 Grammy Award winning Jobim Sinfônico. As it happened in 2004, once again collaborating with Paulo Jobim, Mario Adnet presents us with Jobim, Orchestra & Guests. This is a lavish production with an outstanding who’s-who list in Brazilian music as well as new list of up-and-coming performers. It would take me too long to list everyone and every artist involved in this beautiful project.
As with every Mario Adnet‘s project, the meticulous production is the first sign of excellence in his recordings. In Jobim Orchestra & Guests, he made use of original manuscripts of musical scores and arrangements maintained by the Antonio Carlos Jobim Institute. Adnet wrote some new arrangements and also included some adaptations of Claus Ogerman’s arrangements for four Jobim songs. In addition of Jobim’s music, we also have two original pieces written by Paulo Jobim, “Mantiqueira Range” and “Valse.” 
Those two numbers had originally been previously recorded by Tom Jobim himself. The former appeared in the 1971 Jobim and the latter in the 1976 Urubu, a MusicaBrasileira.org desert island disc. As for the performers in the album, Adnet draws from his usual pool of aces, such as Maucha Adnet, Marcos Nimrichter, Jorge Helder, Armando Marçal, while at the same time showcasing a new generation of performers, including Alice Caymmi (Dorival Caymmi’s granddaughter), Alfredo Del-Penho (he was previously featured in Adnet’s Samba Meeets Boogie Woogie), Antonia Adnet, Daniel Jobim, Dora Morelenbaum, Luiz Pié, Júlia Vargas and Vicente Nucci. Bringing in these new performers puts Jobim’s music in the hands of a new generation, and that proposition works beautifully.
The album is packaged with a bonus DVD with 10 tracks and behind the scenes, such as the opener with Alfredo Del-Penho talking abou the importance of “Chega de Saudade” to the Brazilian songbook. Those introductions before the song performances permeate the DVD, which is also subtitled. They add an extra layer of significance to the music that follows each of those intros. Adnet himself talks about his choice for the arrangement in “Desafinado” and what a challenge it presented since that song, as with other Jobim songs, is so famous worldwide and performed by many. The DVD recording was done in the studio Cidade das Artes in Rio de Janeiro. The tracks missing on the DVD are “Mantiqueira Range,” “Valse” and “O Amor em Paz.”
ALBUM INFORMATION
Mario Adnet & Paulo Jobim
Jobim, Orchestra & Guests
Adventure Music AM 1111 2 (2017)
Time: CD 52’26”, DVD 56’19”
Tracks:
- Chega de Saudade (Antonio Carlos Jobim – Vinícius de Moraes)
- Águas de Março (Antonio Carlos Jobim)
- Chovendo na Roseira (Antonio Carlos Jobim}
- Boto (Antonio Carlos Jobim – Jararaca)
- Mantiqueira Range (Paulo Jobim – Ronaldo Bastos)
- Olha Maria (Antonio Carlos Jobim – Chico Buarque – Vinícius de Moraes)
- Valse (Paulo Jobim)
- Desafinado (Antonio Carlos Jobim – Newton Mendonça)
- Falando de Amor (Antonio Carlos Jobim)
- O Amor em Paz (Antonio Carlos Jobim – Vinícius de Moraes)
- Eu Te Amo (Antonio Carlos Jobim – Chico Buarque)
- Um Certo Capitão Rodrigo (Antonio Carlos Jobim – Ronaldo Bastos)
- O Saci (Paulo Jobim – Ronaldo Bastos)
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