Compilation albums are a boon for both fans and record labels alike. But all too often, these projects are handed off to junior-level project mangers who are told to “do their best”. Sometimes the results are uneven, but in this case I’d like to jump into a ‘WayBack’ machine to track down the person responsible for this album and shake his hand.
The ungainly title of this 1965 Atlantic Records release suggest that this was the case here. With songs culled from several of Herbie Mann’s Brazilian records from 1961-62 no one at the label could possibly have known that this little collection would become the single, only, unique and somewhat available offering of João Gilberto’s very first recordings – unless they had a time machine of their own.
A little checking reveals that Gilberto’s first records were licensed to Atlantic Records from Brazil. Apparently, the seven songs – ‘Desafinado’, ‘Bolinha de Papel’, ‘Maria Ninguem’, ‘O Barquinho’, ‘Samba de Minha Terra’, ‘Rosa Morena’ and ‘Bim Bom’ - were included to provide some contrast to Mann’s impeccable flute play and to introduce Gilberto to the American market. And because all 12 of these songs – Mann’s and Gilberto’s – were recorded in Rio with Antonio Carlos Jobim, the tie-in was a natural one.
Happily, the music on this CD is as wonderful as the album title is ungainly: Herbie Mann was already an acknowledged master of the jazz flute and his sensitivity to the emotion of these Bossa tunes is thrilling. At a time when most US jazzmen were happy to bop along over the Bossa beat, Mann found nuance in Jobim’s music – chalk up another dimension to his talent.
And Gilberto? To be perfectly honest, he’s the real reason to pick up this album. His songs are a musical snapshot in time – back to the birth of Bossa Nova, when it first blossomed into innocent life in the beach districts of Copacabana and Ipanema. Purity in essence, not yet distilled with the world’s coming enthusiasm for what emanated from João’s right hand.
Today, these early songs from João Gilberto are rare and priced into the stratosphere, where only the most serious fans and collectors soar. But this collection will give you a satisfying taste of those heady days in Rio de Janeiro, 1959. And at a price that won’t break the bank!
