Person · 1927–1994 · Rio de Janeiro [-22.91, -43.21]

Antônio Carlos Jobim

Composer, pianist and arranger, Jobim gave bossa nova its harmonic vocabulary — the unhurried, jazz-tinged chords beneath songs like "Chega de Saudade," "Desafinado" and "Garota de Ipanema." Working closely with the poet Vinícius de Moraes and the lyricist Newton Mendonça, he wrote the repertoire that carried the movement abroad. He produced João Gilberto's foundational 1959 album and went on to become the most internationally recorded Brazilian composer of his century.

Evidence2

Connections6

  • influences → Caetano Veloso

  • collaborates with → Stan Getz

  • collaborates with → Vinícius de Moraes

    Antônio Carlos Jobim's melodies and Vinícius de Moraes's lyrics formed the central partnership of bossa nova, producing 'Chega de Saudade', 'Garota de Ipanema', and 'Insensatez'. Jobim's modern harmony met the poet's everyday tenderness to define the movement's literary voice. Theirs is the songwriting axis the whole repertoire turns on.

  • collaborates with → Newton Mendonça

    Jobim and his childhood friend Newton Mendonça co-wrote 'Desafinado', turning the music's own technique into its subject in a witty defense of the new style. Their partnership produced some of bossa nova's most self-aware songs before Mendonça's early death in 1960. The collaboration gave the movement its sense of humor.

  • collaborates with → Chega de Saudade (1959 album)

    Antônio Carlos Jobim produced and arranged João Gilberto's 1959 debut album, the record that codified bossa nova. His harmonies framed Gilberto's revolutionary guitar batida, joining composer and performer in the movement's foundational document. The album is the product of their two sensibilities locked together.

  • migrates to → Getz/Gilberto (1964 album)

    Antônio Carlos Jobim travelled to New York to record Getz/Gilberto in 1963, carrying bossa nova from Rio's living rooms into an American studio. The journey put a Brazilian composer at the piano on the record that would define the movement abroad. It is the physical migration behind bossa nova's global reach.

See it on the globe →Sources