He was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within Brazil and internationally.
In 1965 his album Getz/Gilberto was the first jazz album to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It also won for Best Jazz Instrumental Album – Individual or Group and for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. The album's single "Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema"), one of the most recorded songs of all time, won the Record of the Year. Jobim has left many songs that are now included in jazz and pop standard repertoires. The song "Garota de Ipanema" has been recorded over 240 times by other artists. His 1967 album with Frank Sinatra, Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim, was nominated for Album of the Year in 1968.
Antônio Carlos Jobim was born in the middle-class district of Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro. His father, Jorge de Oliveira Jobim (São Gabriel, Rio Grande do Sul, April 23, 1889 – July 19, 1935), was a writer, diplomat, professor and journalist. He came from a prominent family, being the great nephew of José Martins da Cruz Jobim, senator, privy councillor and physician of Emperor Dom Pedro II. While studying medicine in Europe, José Martins added Jobim to his last name, paying homage to the village where his family came from in Portugal, the parish of Santa Cruz de Jovim, Porto. His mother, Nilza Brasileiro de Almeida (c. 1910 – November 17, 1989), was of Indigenous Brazilian descent from Northeastern Brazil.
When Antônio was still an infant, his parents separated and his mother moved with her children (Antônio Carlos and his sister Helena Isaura, born February 23, 1931) to Ipanema, the beachside neighborhood the composer would later celebrate in his songs. In 1935, when the elder Jobim died, Nilza married Celso da Frota Pessoa (died February 2, 1979), who would encourage his stepson's career. He was the one who gave Jobim his first piano. As a young man of limited means, Jobim earned his living by playing in nightclubs and bars and later as an arranger for a recording label, before starting to achieve success as a composer.
Jobim's musical roots were planted firmly in the work of Pixinguinha, the legendary musician and composer who began modern Brazilian music in the 1930s. Among his teachers were Lúcia Branco and, from 1941 on, Hans-Joachim Koellreutter, a German composer who lived in Brazil and introduced atonal and twelve-tone composition in the country. Jobim was also influenced by the French composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, and by the Brazilian composers Heitor Villa-Lobos and Ary Barroso. The bossa nova guitar style in Jobim's music has become firmly entrenched in jazz culture. Among many themes, his lyrics talked about love, self-discovery, betrayal, joy and especially about the birds and natural wonders of Brazil, like the "Mata Atlântica" forest, characters of Brazilian folklore and his home city of Rio de Janeiro.
In early 1994, after finishing his album Antonio Brasileiro, Jobim complained to his doctor, Roberto Hugo Costa Lima, of urinary problems. He underwent an operation at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on December 2, 1994. On December 8, while recovering from surgery, he had a cardiac arrest caused by a pulmonary embolism, and two hours later another cardiac arrest, from which he died. He was survived by his children and grandchildren. His last album, Antonio Brasileiro, was released posthumously three days after his death.
His body lay in state until given a proper burial on December 20, 1994. He is buried in the Cemitério São João Batista in Rio de Janeiro.
Incerteza
Antônio Carlos Jobim Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
em que eu vivo os meus dias
ainda espero
o mais claro amanhã
Eu vivo uma noite sem lua
que nunca se acaba
de tanta tristeza
sem ninguém pra me sorrir
Ando a procura de alguém
Sei que eu não vou encontrar
pois esse alguém já perdi
sem forças para lutar
In Incerteza, Antonio Carlos Jobim is expressing his uncertainties about life and the future, and the constant hope for a better tomorrow despite the darkness of the present. He talks about living in a state of uncertainty and how he is still waiting for a clearer tomorrow to come. Jobim's use of the word "incerteza" or uncertainty, clearly depicts the instability and uncertainty he is feeling in his life.
Through the lyrics, Jobim paints the picture of a never-ending moonless night of sadness and loneliness that he carries alone without anyone to smile at him. The imagery of the night without a moon and the never-ending cycle of sadness creates a gloomy and melancholic mood that is further emphasized by the use of slow and soothing jazz rhythms.
Lastly, Jobim talks about searching for someone he knows he won't find because he has lost that person and is now too weak to fight to get them back. This paints a picture of a man who has lost his way and is desperately trying to find himself again, but the more he tries, the more he realizes the futility of his search, which only adds to his despair.
Overall, Incerteza is a powerful and emotional expression of uncertainty, despair, and hopelessness that are common to many people, especially those going through trying times.
Line by Line Meaning
Na incerteza
Living in uncertainty
em que eu vivo os meus dias
Every day I live
ainda espero
I still hope
o mais claro amanhã
For a brighter tomorrow
Eu vivo uma noite sem lua
I live in a moonless night
que nunca se acaba
That never ends
de tanta tristeza
Filled with so much sadness
que eu levo sozinho
That I carry alone
sem ninguém pra me sorrir
With no one to smile for me
Ando a procura de alguém
I'm searching for someone
Sei que eu não vou encontrar
But I know I won't find them
pois esse alguém já perdi
Because I already lost that someone
sem forças para lutar
And I have no strength to fight
Writer(s): jobim de moraes
Contributed by Ian F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
maru
Just beautiful.
Maria Eduarda
Esplêndido!
Lavínia Gomes
Maravilhoso de escutar
ира мира
Браво!!!❤💕💞🌷 🎶👍👏
luciano hortencio
Bravo!
Cristina Rodrigues
Amo
ира мира
☀🌴🌴🌴🎶🎸🎹👍❤💞
seena Dehkharghani
can someone skilled in harmonic analysis please explain to me how/why the initial progression sound IDENTICAL to misty by errol garner, which was written/published at almost the exact same time???
AM1317
Antonio Carlos Jobim e Newton Mendonça.
Vinicius Pereira dos Reis Siqueira
Absurdamente, Jobim ...