The Girl From Ipanema

Stan Getz & João Gilberto

tall and tan and young and lovely

Stone Flower

Antonio Carlos Jobim

‘Stone Flower’, by Antonio Carlos Jobim

As I wrote earlier, I have a weak spot for bossa nova, and for me, the God Lord King of Duke Ellingtonesque proportions is Antonio Carlos Jobim, a sublime pianist and songwriter  who wrote the songs that drove the global bossa nova craze of the 1960’s.

By 1970, the year Jobim recorded this album ‘Stone Flower’, the music industry had already destroyed the public’s appetite for bossa nova by overfeeding the market with rancid albums recorded by fading musicians who wanted to revive their careers with a little Brazilian spice. Recorded by Rudy van Gelder and produced by Creed Taylor, this Jobim masterpiece brought back all of the elegance and simmering beauty that had originally defined the bossa nova sound.

The title track ‘Stone Flower’ with its stuttered, near imperceptible percussion (‘maracatu’ it is called) laid under a piano melody of such simplicity, is harmonically deceptive. It isn’t until Lookofsky enters for his violin solo that you realize just how sophisticated and dense the melody is. 

Stone Flower is a moody and cinematic record, a velvety snapshot of Jobim at his peak. And, it needs mentioning, please take notice of the fabulous bass playing of Ron Carter.

Antonio Carlos Jobim – Electric Piano
Eumir Deodato – Guitar
Urbie Green – Trombone
Hubert Laws – Flute
Harry Lookofsky – Violin
Joe Farrell – Soprano Saxophone
Ron Carter – Bass
Airto Moreira – Percussion
Everaldo Ferreira – Percussion
Joao Palma – Drums

Meditation

Astrud Gilberto

Astrud Gilberto - Meditation

Desafinado

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald - Desafinado

Once your kisses raised me to a fever pitch
Now the orchestration doesn’t seem so rich