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Jobim Forever, Antônio Adolfo

Pianist, arranger, producer and educator Antonio Adolfo grew up in a musical family in Rio de Janeiro (his mother was a violinist in the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra), and began his studies at the age of seven. At seventeen he was already a professional musician. His teachers include Eumir Deodato and the great Nadia Boulanger in Paris. During the 60’s he led his own trio that participated in several Bossa Nova and Jazz shows in Brazil and toured with singers Leny Andrade, Carlos Lyra, Flora Purim, Wilson Simonal, Elis Regina and Milton Nascimento. Adolfo wrote tunes such as Pretty World (original Brazilian title: Sa Marina) that gained great success and have been recorded by such artists as Sergio Mendes, Stevie Wonder, Herb Alpert, Earl Klugh, Dionne Warwick, and others. He won International Song Contests (Rio – Brazil and Athens – Greece) on two occasions.

As a musician, arranger and record producer he has worked with some of the most representative Brazilian names, besides having released more than 25 albums under his name. As an educator, he has been teaching music, specially Brazilian music, throughout the world and has written several books (see list in the Educator’s section of this website). In 1985 Mr. Adolfo created his own school in Rio, Brazil, now with more than 1,300 students. His 2010 CD album, Lá e Cá/Here and There, follows the footsteps of 2007 live recording Antonio Adolfo e Carol Saboya Ao Vivo/ Live. In 2011 his CD Chora Baiao was released and became awarded by The Latin Jazz Corner. Antonio Adolfo’s recent CD “Finas Misturas“/Fine Mixtures has been acclaimed with great reviews and Jazz radio airplay. His CD Rio, Choro, Jazz…, as well as his piano solo album O Piano de Antonio Adolfo were nominated for the 2014 Latin Grammy Awards. In 2015, Adolfo had released a CD recorded in New York and Rio, with singer Carol Saboya and harmonicist/vibraphonist Hendrik Meurkes entitled Copa Village. In 2015 he was nominated in the Latin Grammy for his CD Tema, with only original compositions by him. In 2016, the great CD Tropical Infinito that was released in May, has also been nominated as Best Latin Jazz album for the 2016 Latin Grammy. And in 2017 and 2018, CD Hybrido – From Rio to Wayne Shorter was nominated both, Latin Grammy and Grammy, consecutively. In 2018, another album “Encontros – Orquestra Atlantica” has been release by Antonio Adolfo’s AAM Music, which was also recorded in Rio and is gaining great reviews and radio airplay, besides being nominated as Best Engineered album on 2019’s Latin Grammy. Recent releases include CD Samba Jazz Alley (2019) and Vamos Partir Pro Mundo (this one, with Brazilian vocalist Leila Pinheiro).

Jobim Forever, Antônio Adolfo

1 – The Girl From Ipanema by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and Norman Gimbel
2 – Wave by Antonio Carlos Jobim
3 – A Felicidade by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes
4 – How Insensitive by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and Norman Gimbel
5 – Favela (O Morro Não Tem Vez) by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes
6 -Inutil Paisagem (Useless Landscape) by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Aloysio de Oliveira
7 – Agua De Beber (Water to Drink) by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes
8 – Amparo/Intro: Por toda a minha vida (For All My Life) by Antonio Carlos Jobim/ by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes
9 – Estrada do Sol (Road to The Sun) by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Dolores Duran


Musicians

PIANO AND ARRANGEMENTS: ANTONIO ADOLFO
GUITARS (except on track 8): LULA GALVÃO
DOUBLE BASS: JORGE HELDER
DRUMS: PAULO BRAGA* (tracks 4, 5, 6, 8, 9)
RAFAEL BARATA (tracks 1, 2, 3, 7)
PERCUSSION: DADA COSTA (tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8), RAFAEL BARATA (tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 8)
TRUMPET AND FLUGELHORN (tracks and 4, 6, 8, 9): JESSE SADOC
ALTO SAX: DANILO SINNA
TENOR AND SOPRANO SAXES AND FLUTES (tracks 4, 9): MARCELO MARTINS
TROMBONE: RAFAEL ROCHA
VOCAL (track 3): ZE RENATO*

SPECIAL GUESTS:
PAULO BRAGA and ZÉ RENATO)

PRODUCED BY ANTONIO ADOLFO

Recording Engineer: Marcelo Saboia, Assistant Engineer: Leo Alcantara (Visom Digital – Rio – BR), Mixing Engineer: Marcelo Saboia (Escritorio do Saboia – Rio – BR),
Mastering Engineer: Andre Dias (Post Modern Mastering – Miguel Pereira – BR), Cover Illustration and Design: Arisio Rabin.
Special Thanks: Gabe O’Meara and Andre Vasconcelos. Copyright by Antonio Adolfo Music Inc./ All Rights Reserved
AAM 0715 / www.aammusic.com


Liner Notes

It was 1959 and I was studying at a boarding school in Rio de Janeiro. On weekends when we went out, we would listen to music on my mother’s car radio.

At some point, I was taken in by something magical that came through that car radio — it was the song “A Felicidade,” by Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes, composed for the film Black Orpheus. It gave me a feeling I had never experienced before, a true and profound “love at first sight.” From that moment at the age of 12, I started to pursue that sound passionately. I discovered that behind that magical sound there were other factors. There was a whole generation, which included Joao Gilberto, Roberto Menescal, Carlos Lyra, and that entire group of musicians who created a style that came to be known as Bossa Nova. That was the world I wanted to be part of.

A few years went by and I became a professional musician at the age of 17.
I came across and also fell in love with Jazz, but Bossa Nova resided deep in my heart.

I made my professional debut with my trio, the 3-D Trio. It happened when we played in the Musical “Pobre Menina Rica” (Poor Rich Girl) by Carlos Lyra and Vinícius de Moraes, also Jobim’s partner, in a theater in Ipanema. It was pure Bossa Nova. When the show ended, we would go to Beco das Garrafas (Bottles’ Alley) in Copacabana to play with two other “myths”: singer Leny Andrade and trombonist Raul de Souza, pure Jazz Samba, with a repertoire made up of the Bossa Nova masters.

A total privilege to start a music career!

It was the 1960s, and Rio de Janeiro radiated high quality music everywhere. It wasn’t a fluke that this music gradually conquered the world. Not only due to its musical excellence, but for what it transmitted to everyone: an unparalleled image of a happy and magical Rio de Janeiro, mainly through the music of our greatest maestro, Antonio Carlos Jobim.

When he returned to Brazil after the Bossa Nova concert at Carnegie Hall in 1962, I met and hung out with Jobim on several occasions. He was captivating and witty. He shared his knowledge of music and nature, subjects about which he was passionate and knowledgeable. We would spend hours talking, and I was charmed by his wisdom.

The children and grandson of A C Jobim studied music with me, at my school in Rio.

Going back to the vast catalog of music left by Tom Jobim, it goes without saying that I could record numerous records, all of them with an excellent repertoire. I previously dedicated some of my recordings to other composers, and now thought it was time to dedicate this one to the Ultimate Maestro.

For this album I focused on the 1960s, the initial moment that his work impacted me at the age of 12 by “A Felicidade.” Except for this song, which is from 1956, all the other chosen ones were composed during the 1960s.

The musicians are basically the same ones who have participated in my recent albums, Jessé Sadoc (trumpet and flugelhorn), Danilo Sinna (alto sax), Marcelo Martins (tenor sax and flutes), Rafael Rocha (trombone), Lula Galvão (guitar), Jorge Helder (bass), Dada Costa (percussion) and this time, Paulo Braga (drums), who played with Jobim for several years until his passing in 1994.

Recording with this dream team is always an immense joy – a pity that it was only for three days.

Finally, I would like to say that Antonio Carlos Jobim is sorely missed as a Brazilian and universal personality. Our consolation is that his music will live on forever!!

Antonio Adolfo

Episode #287

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