Description
Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim 1967
Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim by 1967, bossa nova had become quite popular within jazz and traditional pop audiences, yet Frank Sinatra hadn’t attempted any Brazil-influenced material. Sinatra decided to record a full-fledged bossa nova album with the genre’s leading composer, Antonio Carlos Jobim. Arranged by Claus Ogermanand featuring Jobim on guitar and backing vocals, Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim concentrated on Jobim’s originals, adding three American classics — “Baubles, Bangles and Beads,” “Change Partners,” and “I Concentrate on You” — that were rearranged to suit bossa nova conventions. The result was a subdued, quiet album that used the Latin rhythms as a foundation, not as a focal point. Supported by a relaxed, sympathetic arrangement of muted brass, simmering percussion, soft strings, and Jobim’s lilting guitar, Sinatra turns in an especially noteworthy performance; he has never sounded so subtle, underplaying every line he delivers and showcasing vocal techniques that he never had displayed before. Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim doesn’t reveal its pleasures immediately; the album is too textured and understated to be fully appreciated within one listen. After a few plays, the album begins to slowly work its way underneath a listener’s skin, and it emerges as one of his most rewarding albums of the ’60s.
This compilation album gathers tracks from two sets of recording sessions Frank Sinatra did with Brazilian singer/songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim, one in 1967 and another in 1969. The first set of sessions in late January and early February 1967 resulted in the ten-track LP Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim, released later in 1967. Jobim joined Sinatra, singing on such tracks as “The Girl from Ipanema,” “I Concentrate on You,” and “Baubles, Bangles and Beads,” with bossa nova arrangements by Claus Ogerman. The second set of sessions held in February 1969 were intended for a follow-up LP to be called SinatraJobim that got as far as having an album cover designed, but never came out. Most of the tracks were issued in 1971, during Sinatra’s temporary retirement, on an album called Sinatra & Company, although a couple turned up on singles in the U.S. or overseas, and the Sinatra/Jobim duet “Off Key (Desafinado)” sat in the can for decades, not turning up until the box set The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings in 1995. Despite being separated by two years, the first ten tracks and the second ten fit well together. Sinatra sings gently and sensitively throughout. The chief difference lies in the musical backing, as the 1969 tracks were arranged by Eumir Deodato, with orchestra conducted by Morris Stoloff, and they have less of a Brazilian feel. Still, the sessions have always belonged together on a single disc, and they constitute a special niche in the Sinatra catalog.
Video: Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967)
Track listing:
- “The Girl from Ipanema” (Antônio Carlos Jobim, Norman Gimbel, Vinícius de Moraes) – 3:20
- “Dindi” (Ray Gilbert, Jobim, Aloysio de Oliveria) – 3:31
- “Change Partners” (Irving Berlin) – 2:43
- “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars” (Jobim, Gene Lees) – 2:45
- “Meditation” (Jobim, Gimbel, Newton Mendonça) – 2:55
- “If You Never Come to Me” (Jobim, Gilbert, de Oliveira) – 2:11
- “How Insensitive” (Jobim, Gimbel, de Moraes) – 3:18
- “I Concentrate on You” (Cole Porter) – 2:39
- “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” (Robert Wright, George Forrest, Alexander Borodin) – 2:36
- “Once I Loved (O Amor em Paz)” (Jobim, Gilbert, de Moraes) – 2:38
- “The Song of the Sabia (Sabiá)” – (Jobim, Chico Buarque, Gimbel) – 3:40
- “Drinking Water (Agua de Beber)” (de Moraes, Jobim, Gimbel) – 2:37
- “Someone to Light Up My Life” (de Moraes, Jobim, Lees) – 2:40
- “Triste” (Jobim) – 2:42
- “This Happy Madness (Estrada Branca)” (de Moraes, Jobim, Lees) – 2:57
- “One Note Samba (Samba de Uma Nota So)” (Jobim, Mendonça) – 2:22
- “Don’t Ever Go Away (Por Causa de Você)” (Gilbert, Dolores Duran, Jobim) – 2:30
- “Wave” (Jobim) – 3:21
- “Off Key” (Desafinado)” (Lees, Jobim, Mendonça) – 3:09
- “Bonita” (Gilbert, Jobim, Lees) – 3:40
Personnel
- Frank Sinatra – vocals
- Antônio Carlos Jobim – vocals, guitar
- Claus Ogerman – arranger, conductor (Tracks 1-10)
- Eumir Deodato – arranger (Tracks 11–20)
- Morris Stoloff – conductor (Tracks 11–20)
