Description
Antônio Carlos Jobim-Wave 1967
Bossa Nova, specifically, is the most globally recognizable form of music to come out of Brazil, and is partially accountable for a lot of the smooth elements in today’s jazz and easy listening genres.
Antonio Carlos Jobim is the artist primarily responsible for the Bossa Nova movement, and his album Wave is his unequivocal masterpiece. Outside of the famous Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz song, “Girl from Ipanema,” no other song/album is as representative to the aesthetic of Bossa Nova music as Wave. Nothing else comes close to matching the heart-wrenching sophistication of the songs within this short 32-minute gem.
When Creed Taylor left Verve/MGM for his own label under the auspices of A&M, he quickly signed Antonio Carlos Jobim and they picked up right where they left off with this stunningly seductive record, possibly Jobim’s best. Jobim contributes his sparely rhythmic acoustic guitar, simple melodic piano style, a guest turn at the harpsichord, and even a vocal on “Lamento,” while Claus Ogerman lends a romantically brooding hand with the charts. A pair of instant standards are introduced (“Wave,” “Triste”), but this album is to be cherished for its absolutely first-rate tunes — actually miniature tone poems — that escaped overexposure and thus sound fresh today. The most beautiful sleeper is “Batidinha,” where the intuitive Jobim/Ogerman collaboration reaches its peak. One only wishes that this album were longer; 31:45 is not enough.
