Track Listing

1. Girl from Ipanema
2. Desafinado
3. Corcovado
4. Agua de Beber
5. O Morro N�o Tem Vez - Vin�cius de Moraes, Antonio Carlos Jobim
6. Insensatez
7. One Note Samba
8. Meditation (Medita��o)
9. Chega de Saudade
10. Wave
11. Girl from Ipanema
12. Remember
13. Rancho Nas Nuvens
14. �guas de Mar�o (Waters of March)
15. In�til Paisagem (Useless Landscape)
16. Passarim
17. Looks Like December

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81576 in Music
• Released on: 2000-06-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com essential recording
While Antonio Carlos Jobim is an essential figure in the music of Brazil, he also created a significant place for himself in American music as a great songwriter and a key figure in the tremendous popularity of bossa nova. Apart from his unique melodic gift, what makes Jobim's work memorable is the complexity of mood he could evoke--the touch of sadness that colors the brightest bossa nova, the irony in the midst of joy, and the mixture of delicacy and resilience in his voice and piano. He was an artist who worked primarily in pastels, but it was his sense of shadows that gave his work its most enduring qualities. Including his most famous tunes and collaborators--like "The Girl from Ipanema" with Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto--Jobim's Finest Hour catches it all, from the standard-bearers to such gems as the playful "Aguas de Marco." --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Timeless Tunes For Any Time
Antonio Carlos Jobim's Finest Hour is an excellent collection of jazz bossanova recordings by one of the leaders of the bossanova sound. Jobim's solo and accompaniment with vocalist Astrud Gilberto and legendary saxophonist, Stan Getz, offers a melodic and sensuous effect to his lush Brazilian sound. The cd's crispsness makes the recordings timeless, but not without a thought of 1960s cocktail sounding nostalgia (dependent on your age, these are tunes you heard your father play on the good ol' hi-fi system). The songs make you imagine you're on a beach with the palm trees gently swaying back and forth, or simply lounging on the patio listening to tracks, such as the all too familiar, "The Girl From Impanema," my favorite version of "Meditation," or the delicious hipster trappings of "Desfinado" with Getz's exceptional sax solo.

Finest Hour will not disappoint those listeners looking for the quiet jazz sounds that whisper in your ear or simply let you relax. So, grab yourself a copy, and while you're at it, mix a cocktail or two and add one of those little umbrellas.

SOME OF HIS JOBIM'S BEST
This CD covers all of Jobim's greatest tunes. A large chunk are instrumentals and with Claus Ogerman charts they are very smooth and relaxing. These songs have far more depth and beauty to them than they appear to have at first glance.

Overall, Jobim was better at composing and playing guitar than at singing plus I prefer the more lush orchestra sound over a small combo.

Finally, this CD it also provides a good time span and variety of Jobim's music (63-86).

If you're JOBIM fan, this is a great point to start at.

Get Getz/Gilberto or Composer of Desafinado Plays
This compilation here is a not-very-imaginative rehash of previously released material. The reason I gave it one star is not cause it['s bad], but because ALL of the songs here one can get in more attractive/comprehensive packages, such as: "Getz/Gilberto" (a masterpiece), "Composer of Desafinado Plays" (a cool record) or "The Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook" compilation from Verve, which is really cool. So there! If you are really interested in Antonio Brasileiro, skip this one and go for the real deal.