Les Plus Belles Chansons de

Performer: Antonio Carlos Jobim
Distributor: Harmonia Mundi (Distribut

Notes: Performers include: Quarteto Em Cy, Baden Powell, Silvio Cesar, Chico Buarque, Miucha, Sandra Sa & Celia Vaz, Astrud Gilberto, Tamba Trio, Maria Bethania, Bia. Contains 28 tracks. One of the most purely easy-listening discs Antonio Carlos Jobim ever made--most of his music is too rhythmically active to fall in this category--MOST BEAUTIFUL SONGS is a collaboration with Brazilian poet, musician and former diplomat Vinicius De Moraes. De Moraes is best known in American music circles as a friend of Jobim's who wrote or co-wrote many of the composer's best known songs, including all 14 tracks here, but to some Brazilians, he's a national hero on the level of, say, Paul McCartney. (Among other things, he wrote the play BLACK ORPHEUS, the film of which led to Jobim's international superstardom.) Although the cover photo features De Moraes at the microphone, over half of these songs are sung by Brazilian jazz vocalist Miucha, including what can only be described as a disco version of "The Girl from Ipanema." (Actually, it works better than one might expect.) The arrangements are quite slick and De Moraes's contributions are frustratingly small, but MOST BEAUTIFUL SONGS has more than curiosity value.

Antonio Carlos Jobim is one of the founding figures of bossa nova. Starting with his work with guitarist Joao Gilberto in the late 1950s ("Chega de Saudade," "Desafinado"), Jobim composed a string of unforgettable songs that combined subtle rhythms, modern harmony, and poetic lyrics, and which quickly found their way from Brazil to the rest of the world. His music has been performed and recorded by countless musicians, and by the time of his death in 1994, Jobim was widely regarded as one of the great composers of popular song.

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