Antonio Carlos Jobim, music · Aloysio de Oliveira, Portuguese lyrics · Ray Gilbert, English lyrics · First recorded by Sylvia Telles
Dindi
Dindi is a Brazilian ballad that Antonio Carlos Jobim wrote in 1959 for the singer Sylvia Telles. It drifts over a soft rhythm, and its middle section turns darker before the opening mood returns. Astrud Gilberto and Frank Sinatra sang it in the 1960s, and Wayne Shorter stretched it past nine minutes.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the first Brazilian recording, follows the song into English with Astrud Gilberto and Frank Sinatra, then hears jazz players, a piano trio and a modern singer make it their own.
Sylvia Telles recorded Dindi on 15 October 1959, and Odeon issued it as a 78 rpm single that November. Jobim wrote the song for her, and it is the first track on her all-Jobim LP Amor de Gente Moça.
The first recording
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Listen for
Telles sings it softly and evenly, and the whole song is over in two and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of the at a slow pace with a quiet, steady beat: , , E♭maj7, then to . Hum the tune on top.
Astrud Gilberto recorded her first solo album on 27 and 28 January 1965 in Hollywood, with Jobim on guitar and Marty Paich writing the arrangements. Her Dindi uses the English words by Ray Gilbert.
English words
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Listen for
She sings in a light, unforced voice, and the gentle rhythm underneath never rushes.
Try it on your instrument
Sing or play the tune over the same four (, , E♭maj7, to ), keeping the rhythm even and soft. On guitar, strum the lightly.
Sinatra and Jobim recorded this album at United Western Recorders in Hollywood on 30 January and 1 February 1967, with Claus Ogerman arranging. Aloysio de Oliveira and Ray Gilbert, who wrote the words to Dindi, were at the sessions.
English words
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Listen for
Sinatra sings low and relaxed, and the recording stays quiet from start to finish.
Try it on your instrument
Learn the full , 1 to 8, and sing it low and quietly. Then try the , which moves to and then .
Wayne Shorter recorded Dindi on 2 September 1969 in New York for his album Super Nova. His band for this session had two guitarists, two drummers, a bassist, a percussionist and the singer Maria Booker.
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Listen for
This version runs nearly ten minutes, far longer than the earlier ones. Maria Booker sings the song while Shorter's saxophone, the guitars and the drummers play around her.
Try it on your instrument
Loop the first four (, , E♭maj7, to ) at a slow pace and play long held notes over them. Soloing over the full 32 bars is a bigger step, so start with this loop.
Shirley Horn recorded her trio album Softly at Mapleshade Studio in Baltimore in 1987, and Audiophile released it in 1988. It was her only record for that label.
Trio versions
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Listen for
Horn sings and plays piano herself at a hushed pace, with the bass and drums close behind her for over six minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the at half your usual pace, one at a time, and leave a pause after each. Smaller version: play only the first four chords, , , E♭maj7 and , with a long pause after each.
Eliane Elias, a Brazilian pianist, recorded Eliane Elias Plays Jobim in December 1989, and Blue Note released it in 1990. Bassist Eddie Gómez and drummer Jack DeJohnette play with her.
Trio versions
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Listen for
Elias carries the tune on piano, with the bass and drums beside her through almost six minutes.
Try it on your instrument
If you play piano, play the with your left hand and the tune with your right. Smaller version: left hand only, E♭, D♭, E♭ and B♭, one note per .
Lee Konitz recorded Brazilian Serenade at Sear Sound in New York on 20 to 22 March 1996, with guitarist Romero Lubambo, drummer Duduka Da Fonseca and percussionist Valtinho Anastacio. The album is credited to him and The Brazilian Band.
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Listen for
Konitz's alto saxophone carries the tune at a relaxed pace for more than seven minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody on any instrument, then play it again with one small change in rhythm. Playing a full solo over the 32 is harder, so start with this.
Jane Monheit recorded Dindi on 13 and 14 January 2000 for her album Never Never Land, produced by Joel Dorn. The album's band includes Kenny Barron, Bucky Pizzarelli, Ron Carter and Lewis Nash.
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Listen for
A modern singer takes the song at a gentle pace with a small band of piano, guitar, bass and drums behind her.
Try it on your instrument
Play through all 32 once, counting eight bars for each section: A, A, B, A. Check your place against the chart on this page.
Jobim writes the song for Sylvia Telles, who records it for Odeon on 15 October 1959. The label issues it on a 78 rpm single that November.
1960s
Astrud Gilberto and Frank Sinatra record it with English words, and in 1969 Wayne Shorter turns it into a nine-minute piece for a large band with two guitars and two drummers.
1970s
Sarah Vaughan records it for her 1979 album Copacabana, produced by Aloísio de Oliveira, who wrote the Portuguese words.
1980s
Ella Fitzgerald sings it on her Jobim album, Shirley Horn records a slow trio version in 1987, and Eliane Elias plays it with a bass and drums in December 1989.
1990s
Lee Konitz leads a Brazilian band in New York in March 1996, with his alto saxophone carrying the tune.
2000s
Jane Monheit sings it on Never Never Land in January 2000, and Magos Herrera releases a version of nearly eight minutes on her 2009 album Distancia.
More great versions
6 more, from 1965 to 2009. Tap a cover to play it here.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
E♭ majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
E♭ → G m → F m → E♭key centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars
A8 bars
E♭
G m
F m
E♭
The runs 32 in four sections of eight: A, A, B, A, in . Each A opens with , and E♭maj7, reaches and in bar 4, then moves through and to . The second A closes on E♭6 and an to pair that turns toward the . B sits first in (, , , ) and then in (, , , ). The last A repeats the opening and ends on .