Twenty songs from 1958 to 1972

Antonio Carlos Jobim

Antonio Carlos Jobim writes these twenty songs between 1958 and 1972, many with Vinícius de Moraes, some with Newton Mendonça, and a few on his own. Other writers add Portuguese or English words, and singers from Astrud Gilberto to Frank Sinatra take them up. Jobim records his own versions too, from his first album in 1963 to Carnegie Hall in 1994, and each decade below follows who plays the songs next.

Through the years

1950s
Jobim's first songs reach records through other voices. Elizeth Cardoso records Chega de Saudade in April 1958 with his arrangement, and João Gilberto's recording that July comes out as a hit single. In 1959 Agostinho dos Santos sings A Felicidade, written with Vinícius de Moraes, over the opening credits of the film Black Orpheus, and Sylvia Telles records Dindi, which Jobim writes for her.
Elizeth Cardoso Chega de Saudade · 1958 João Gilberto Chega de Saudade · 1958 João Gilberto Desafinado · 1958 Agostinho dos Santos A Felicidade · 1959 Sylvia Telles Dindi · 1959
1960s
Fifteen of the twenty songs are written between 1960 and 1968. Jobim records his own versions on his first album in New York in May 1963, with Claus Ogerman's strings. Stan Getz and João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, Miles Davis with Gil Evans, Oscar Peterson and Wes Montgomery record them, Frank Sinatra makes an album with Jobim in 1967, and Chico Buarque adds words to Zingaro in 1968.
João Gilberto Corcovado · 1960 João Gilberto Meditation · 1960 Mário Reis O Grande Amor · 1960 João Gilberto Once I Loved · 1961 Vince Guaraldi Trio A Felicidade · 1962 Leo Wright A Felicidade · 1962 Maysa Água de Beber · 1962 Dizzy Gillespie Chega de Saudade · 1962
76 more
Stan Getz with the Gary McFarland Orchestra Chega de Saudade · 1962 Miles Davis with Gil Evans Corcovado · 1962 Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd Desafinado · 1962 Coleman Hawkins Desafinado · 1962 Herbie Mann & Antônio Carlos Jobim One Note Samba · 1962 Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd One Note Samba · 1962 Coleman Hawkins One Note Samba · 1962 Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan One Note Samba · 1962 Elza Laranjeira Só Danço Samba · 1962 Antônio Carlos Jobim Água de Beber · 1963 Antônio Carlos Jobim Chega de Saudade · 1963 Stan Getz and João Gilberto, with Antônio Carlos Jobim and Astrud Gilberto Corcovado · 1963 Antônio Carlos Jobim Corcovado · 1963 Antônio Carlos Jobim Desafinado · 1963 Stan Getz and João Gilberto, featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim Desafinado · 1963 Herbie Mann Desafinado · 1963 Jair Rodrigues Favela · 1963 Stan Getz & Luiz Bonfá Favela · 1963 Antonio Carlos Jobim Favela · 1963 Antônio Carlos Jobim How Insensitive · 1963 Stan Getz and Luiz Bonfá How Insensitive · 1963 Antônio Carlos Jobim Meditation · 1963 Stan Getz and João Gilberto, with Antônio Carlos Jobim O Grande Amor · 1963 Antônio Carlos Jobim Once I Loved · 1963 Antônio Carlos Jobim One Note Samba · 1963 Stan Getz & Luiz Bonfá Só Danço Samba · 1963 Stan Getz & João Gilberto, with Antonio Carlos Jobim Só Danço Samba · 1963 Antônio Carlos Jobim Só Danço Samba · 1963 Stan Getz & João Gilberto The Girl from Ipanema · 1963 Antônio Carlos Jobim The Girl from Ipanema · 1963 Herbie Mann The Girl from Ipanema · 1963 Charlie Byrd A Felicidade · 1964 Sarah Vaughan Corcovado · 1964 Oscar Peterson Trio Corcovado · 1964 Sambalanço Trio Favela · 1964 Wanda Sá Inútil Paisagem · 1964 The Modern Jazz Quartet & Laurindo Almeida One Note Samba · 1964 Milt Jackson Sextet with Lillian Clark Só Danço Samba · 1964 Oscar Peterson Trio The Girl from Ipanema · 1964 Nat King Cole The Girl from Ipanema · 1964 Ramsey Lewis Trio A Felicidade · 1965 Astrud Gilberto, with Antônio Carlos Jobim Água de Beber · 1965 Astrud Gilberto Dindi · 1965 Astrud Gilberto Favela · 1965 Wes Montgomery with the Oliver Nelson Orchestra Favela · 1965 Astrud Gilberto How Insensitive · 1965 Antonio Carlos Jobim Inútil Paisagem · 1965 Astrud Gilberto Meditation · 1965 Astrud Gilberto Once I Loved · 1965 Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66 Água de Beber · 1966 Gary Burton Trio Chega de Saudade · 1966 Wes Montgomery How Insensitive · 1966 Oscar Peterson Meditation · 1966 Ella Fitzgerald with Duke Ellington Só Danço Samba · 1966 Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66 Só Danço Samba · 1966 Stan Getz with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra The Girl from Ipanema · 1966 Frank Sinatra and Antônio Carlos Jobim Corcovado · 1967 Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim Dindi · 1967 Frank Sinatra and Antônio Carlos Jobim How Insensitive · 1967 Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim Inútil Paisagem · 1967 Antonio Carlos Jobim Look to the Sky · 1967 Frank Sinatra and Antônio Carlos Jobim Meditation · 1967 Stan Getz Quartet O Grande Amor · 1967 Frank Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim Once I Loved · 1967 Frank Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim The Girl from Ipanema · 1967 Antonio Carlos Jobim Triste · 1967 Antônio Carlos Jobim Zingaro · 1967 Ahmad Jamal How Insensitive · 1968 Chico Buarque Zingaro · 1968 Frank Sinatra, with Antônio Carlos Jobim Água de Beber · 1969 Wayne Shorter Dindi · 1969 Roy Ayers Look to the Sky · 1969 Dexter Gordon Meditation · 1969 Frank Sinatra with Antonio Carlos Jobim Triste · 1969 Frank Sinatra with Antônio Carlos Jobim Wave · 1969 Oscar Peterson with the Claus Ogerman Orchestra Wave · 1969
1970s
Jobim writes Ligia in 1972, and Chico Buarque records it in 1974. That year Elis Regina and Jobim make Elis & Tom in Los Angeles, and tracks from Frank Sinatra's shelved 1969 sessions with Jobim come out in 1971. Jazz players stretch the songs: McCoy Tyner plays Wave for 7:27 against Jobim's 2:56, and Joe Pass plays it for ten minutes.
Vinícius de Moraes, Maria Creuza & Toquinho A Felicidade · 1970 Joe Pass Meditation · 1970 Ahmad Jamal Trio Wave · 1970 Nara Leão O Grande Amor · 1971 Pat Martino How Insensitive · 1972 Ella Fitzgerald & Joe Pass Once I Loved · 1973 Sarah Vaughan Wave · 1973 Kenny Drew Trio A Felicidade · 1974
20 more
Elis Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim Inútil Paisagem · 1974 Chico Buarque Ligia · 1974 Elis Regina & Antonio Carlos Jobim Triste · 1974 Paul Desmond Quartet Wave · 1974 Elis Regina & Antônio Carlos Jobim Zingaro · 1974 Antônio Carlos Jobim Ligia · 1975 Stan Getz and João Gilberto Ligia · 1975 The Paul Desmond Quartet Meditation · 1975 McCoy Tyner Trio Once I Loved · 1975 Stan Getz & João Gilberto Zingaro · 1975 Al Jarreau Água de Beber · 1976 Stanley Turrentine Ligia · 1976 Ella Fitzgerald & Joe Pass One Note Samba · 1976 Stan Getz & João Gilberto Zingaro · 1976 Sarah Vaughan Triste · 1977 McCoy Tyner Trio Wave · 1977 Joe Pass and Paulinho da Costa Wave · 1978 Art Pepper Desafinado · 1979 John McNeil and Tom Harrell Look to the Sky · 1979 Gábor Szabó Zingaro · 1979
1980s
Ella Fitzgerald records a whole album of Jobim songs in September 1980 and March 1981, and Jobim sings The Girl from Ipanema on Terra Brasilis in 1980. In 1981 he plays Ligia alone at the piano and sings it at a concert in Belo Horizonte. Shirley Horn records Dindi and Once I Loved with her trio, and Eliane Elias makes an album of his songs in December 1989.
Ella Fitzgerald Favela · 1980 Ella Fitzgerald Água de Beber · 1981 Emily Remler Look to the Sky · 1981 George Shearing and Marian McPartland O Grande Amor · 1981 Stan Getz Quartet O Grande Amor · 1983 Shirley Horn Dindi · 1987 Shirley Horn Once I Loved · 1988 Eliane Elias Dindi · 1989
1 more
Eliane Elias One Note Samba · 1989
1990s
In 1994 Jobim plays Carnegie Hall with Pat Metheny and Joe Henderson, and records How Insensitive with Sting singing, for his last studio album. Henderson makes Double Rainbow that year, a tribute that began as a planned project with Jobim and changed after his death. Eliane Elias, Stanley Turrentine, Joyce Moreno, Ana Caram and Rosa Passos also record the songs.
The Charlie Byrd Trio Triste · 1991 Eliane Elias Chega de Saudade · 1992 Stanley Turrentine Triste · 1992 Eliane Elias Wave · 1992 Joe Henderson A Felicidade · 1994 Joe Henderson Ligia · 1994 Joe Henderson Once I Loved · 1994 Joe Henderson Triste · 1994
8 more
Joe Henderson Zingaro · 1994 Joyce Moreno and Toninho Horta Inútil Paisagem · 1995 Javon Jackson Inútil Paisagem · 1995 Joyce and Toninho Horta Ligia · 1995 Ana Caram Look to the Sky · 1995 Lee Konitz & The Brazilian Band Dindi · 1996 Rosa Passos Só Danço Samba · 1998 Roy Hargrove How Insensitive · 1999
2000s
Jane Monheit sings Dindi in January 2000, and João Gilberto plays Corcovado and Ligia alone with his guitar in Tokyo in September 2003. Diana Krall names her 2009 album after the English title of Corcovado, with Claus Ogerman arranging it. Fred Hersch plays O Grande Amor alone at the piano that year, and Esperanza Spalding and Gretchen Parlato sing Inútil Paisagem together.
Jane Monheit Dindi · 2000 Cedar Walton Triste · 2002 João Gilberto Ligia · 2003 Rosa Passos & Ron Carter O Grande Amor · 2003 Sophie Milman Água de Beber · 2004 Aaron Goldberg Inútil Paisagem · 2006 Trio da Paz and Joe Locke Look to the Sky · 2007 Diana Krall Corcovado · 2009
3 more
Esperanza Spalding with Gretchen Parlato Inútil Paisagem · 2009 Allan Vaché with the Central Florida Chamber Orchestra Look to the Sky · 2009 Fred Hersch O Grande Amor · 2009
2010s
Chick Corea plays Zingaro on two pianos with Stefano Bollani in December 2010, and Chega de Saudade and Once I Loved with Gary Burton on Hot House in 2012. Pat Metheny plays The Girl from Ipanema alone on baritone guitar in 2011, Joyce Moreno records Favela in Rio de Janeiro in 2014, and the SFJAZZ Collective plays Ligia live in 2018 on a Jobim program.
Chick Corea & Stefano Bollani Zingaro · 2010 Pat Metheny The Girl from Ipanema · 2011 Andrea Motis & Joan Chamorro Quintet featuring Scott Hamilton Chega de Saudade · 2013 Angelo Adamo, Guido Di Leone and Francesco Angiuli Look to the Sky · 2014 SFJAZZ Collective Ligia · 2018 Gabriel Latchin Trio Desafinado · 2019
2020s
Pianist Antonio Adolfo records Jobim Forever in 2021 on his own label, with saxophone, trombone, guitar and extra percussion, and Favela is on it. Andreas Schulz puts Look to the Sky on The Jobim Sessions, an album of reworked Jobim songs released the same year. In January 2026 Luísa Sonza and Roberto Menescal release Triste on Bossa Sempre Nova.
Antonio Adolfo Favela · 2021

Through the years

The tunes