🎷 AotW: CTI Antonio Carlos Jobim - WAVE (SP-3002)

All the CTI releases

How Would You Rate This Album?

  • ***** (Best)

    Votes: 9 81.8%
  • ****

    Votes: 2 18.2%
  • ***

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • **

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • * (Worst)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Never Heard This Album

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    11

Captain Bacardi

Well-Known Member
Antonio Carlos Jobim
WAVE

A&M/CTi SP-3002

sp3002.jpg
sp3002alt.jpg

Released 1967
Peaked at #5 on Jazz Charts (1967), #114 on Pop Charts (1968)

Format: Vinyl/Reel-to-Reel/Cassette/8-Track/CD

Produced by Creed Taylor
Arranged and Conducted by Claus Ogerman

Songs:
  • 1. Wave - 2:51
    2. The Red Blouse - 5:03
    3. Look To The Sky - 2:17
    4. Batidnha - 3:13
    5. Triste - 2:04
    6. Mojave - 2:21
    7. Dialogo - 2:50
    8. Lamento - 2:42
    9. Antigua - 3:07
    10. Captain Bacardi - 4:29

    All songs written by Antonio Carlos Jobim and published by Corcorvado Music Corp. (BMI)

Musicians:
Antonio Carlos Jobim - Piano, Guitar & Harpsichord
Ron Carter - Bass
Domum Romao - Drums
Bobby Rosengarden - Drums
Claudio Slon - Drums
Joseph Singer - French Horn
Ray Beckenstein - Flutes and Piccolo
Romeo Penque - Flutes and Piccolo
Jerome Richardson - Flutes and Piccolo
Urbie Green - Trombone
Jimmy Cleveland - Trombone
Violins - Bernard Eichen, Lewis Eley, Paul Gershman, Emmanuel Green, Louis Haber, Julius Held, Leo Kruczek, Harry Lookofsky, Joseph Malignaggi, Gene Orloff, Raoul Poliakin, Irving Spice, Louis Stone
Celli - Abe Kessler, Charles McCracken, George Ricci, Harvey Shapiro

Recorded at Van Gelder Studios
Rudy Van Gelder - Engineer
Recorded May 22, 23, 24 and June 15, 1967

Cover Photographs - Pete Turner
Album Design - Sam Antupit
Liner notes by Norman Gimbel and George Frazier IV




Capt. Bacardi
 
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Interesting piece of trivia to begin: yes, the red/purple cover is the original coloring. According to a message I received from Pete Turner, the blue/green color was an error when the printing plates were reversed, and this has affected reissued copies of Wave.

I'll admit that this album has grown on me over the years. With all the strings, it doesn't really hold up as pure jazz...but even as "easy listening," it does work well. (Earlier Jobim albums had also featured strings, so in retrospect, this is acutally less like easy listening than some of his Warner Brothers recordings!) But like the man himself, the music is hard to categorize. The omnipresent Brazilian guitar and subdued samba beat suggest the sounds of South America, while his touch on piano is jazz. For me, it's a nice musical diversion from everything else...yes, including the strings.

One thing that bothered me originally about some CTi recordings (and not so much in this one, but in later ones, especially an album like Tamba 4's Samba Blim): the muddy overall sound. Most of the A&M/CTi albums have a very elevated mid-bass that seems like a late 60's attempt to make the recording more "hi-fi" and "warm" sounding on the common hi-fi console equipment of the day...but on modern equipment, it comes through as muck. A good cut in the midbass region cleans these up...and when transfering these to CD from LP, I do just that with some equalization. (The upper midrange is also lacking--touching that up also adds a little clarity w/o adding "glare" to the sound.) The most puzzling thing about the sound quality is that Van Gelder's studio put out a lot of better-sounding product for other labels. I think this was more of a producer decision than an engineering one.

-= N =-
...ears on, good buddy...[/i]
 
I agree about the muddy-sounding recordings that seem to emanate from the CTi/Van Gelder stable. It was nice hearing WE AND THE SEA by Tamba 4 come to life with that last release on Verve By Request. Perhaps someday this album and others will get the same treatment.

Although I'm not all that much into jazz, I do have a few of these A&M CTi's around (which reminds me, I need to post something in last week's Wes Montgomery thread). This is one of the earliest that I purchased, and it's a VERY pleasant album to listen to. I find it a great album to put on after a long hard day when I want to relax. My copy is the domestic CD with the A&M Jazz Series logo, CD 0812.

As for strings, well I happen to like strings, and their presence in ANY recording has never bothered me, and they certainly don't bother me here. Quite the contrary, hearing REAL strings is a treat for me, unlike the synthesized stuff we get nowadays.

Harry
NP: WAVE, Antonio Carlos Jobim
 
To me, the Japanese Samba Blim is still a little muddy, but not as bad as the LP. I have both CD versions of Paul Desmond's From The Hot Afternoon, and the earlier is muddier just due to a lower quality tape being used (less high end, more tape noise, which didn't help).

The strings on this Jobim recording don't step all over the music, so they don't really bother me here. If you like this string-based approach, and you don't have it yet, I 'd recommend the Warner Brothers "Composer Series" CD of Jobim's. It has two complete albums, and it is a very warm, lush recording (seems like a perfect "fireplace" album to me!)...but more in an M.O.R. mode than the jazzier edge on this recording. In fact, I would guess that those WB Jobim albums were originally cut around the time he recorded with Sinatra--there is a big similarity in the sound and arrangements. The Sinatra/Jobim is a two-parter IMHO: the F.A.Sinatra/A.C.Jobim album is the classic, but there's also side one (first seven tracks) of Sinatra & Co. that features Jobim, but with Deodato doing arrangements. Not quite up to the level of the first album, but still very good. (The flip side of that Sinatra & Co. album is so bad that it grates on my nerves--the emotionless delivery of "Close To You" is about as exciting as a dead fish.) One of these days I'm going to put the 1-1/2 Sinatra albums on one CD. There's a remastered version of their first album--curious to know if it's any better than the older one I have.

-= N =-
 
The second Sinatra/Jobim album (the one with Deodato) was originally intended to be a full LP, but Reprise ended up cutting out a few songs, leaving seven to fill one side of the Sinatra & Company record. The three songs they cut out ("Bonita," "Sabia," and "Desafinado") can only be found on the giant 20-CD box set, The Complete Reprise Recordings Of Frank Sinatra (aka "the Sinatra suitcase"). I've seriously considered buying the suitcase, burning all 20 Jobim tracks onto a single disc, and then selling off the suitcase... but the financing just ain't there! :cry: :wink:

- William
 
Wow...three more tracks. I wonder if any of our local libraries might have this available? It can't hurt to check. I've found a few gems at our local library.

The lowest price on half.com is $177.88 right now; the set lists for $300, which is fair, averaging out to $15/disc. Does look like a nice set, but there's very little Reprise Sinatra I can handle. Once he left Capitol, I lost interest in the music. Exceptions are his Jobim recordings, and the three he did with Basie and Quincy Jones. YMMV. :wink:

All I have from Capitol is the three-CD set from about a decade ago, and Songs For Swingin' Lovers. I do have Duets. It was a gift...and that's all I'll say about it.

-= N =-
 
In all honesty, I wouldn't call myself a big fan of Ol' Blue Eyes at any point in his career. All I have are the Jobim collaborations (except the three missing tracks...) and September Of My Years. Everything else I've heard has left me cold. One early Capitol album in particular, called The Voice, actually leaves me out cold. Zzzzzzzzz....

But do let me know if you ever get a hold of the suitcase.

- William
 
As far as the AOTW goes:

I believe this is one of only two A&M/CTi albums where all of the material is provided by the artist, rather than the pop charts of the time (the other being Nascimento's Courage). Most of the Jobim compositions were making their debut on this album--although "Lamento" (aka "Lamento No Morro") had already been recorded by Nara Leão prior to this release. "Wave" and "Triste" are probably the most enduring and oft-recorded tracks introduced here, having been latched onto by jazz and pop musicians almost immediately.

Like Harry, I enjoy strings and flutes on any kind of recordings--even though I am very much into jazz--and I think they add enormous depth to this album. It's only when you get an obnoxious arranger like Grusin or Bob James that an orchestra bothers me. Ogerman's sound is steeped in European classical tradition, as is Jobim's compositional style, so the arrangements fit the songs like a glove (much moreso than Deodato's, IMHO).

I have the sheet music book for this album (complete with the original red cover art), and what continues to amaze me about the record is that the songs are as enjoyable to study and play as they are to hear. The recordings are soothing and lovely, and the songs themselves are amazingly erudite, interesting, intelligent, and downright fun to explore in performance. So although I enjoy all my CTi's, I do think Wave is probably on a higher artistic level than the rest of the pack.

- William
 
For me, there are things to love and hate on this album. I love the songs but I hate the strings, for the most part. Sometimes it seems too much. Fortunately, Urbie Green's trombone work makes up for it. Love his solos on "Look To The Sky" and "Lamento", plus that nice bit with the flute on "Dialogo". This stuff is what smooooth jazz should be about. :cool: It's interesting to hear how sparse Jobim plays guitar and piano. Just a touch here and there. Maybe that's why the strings were there. :wink:

The best thing, of course, are the songs themselves. Jobim may not be a pure jazz musician per se, but his tunes are perfect jazz vehicles. Nice, lush chords changes with simple melodies.

Oh, and he wrote the greatest song of all time: "Captain Bacardi". :D


Capt. Bacardi
...honored that Jobim would write a song about me, online... :angel:
 
I can't believe I forgot to mention Urbie! My main man on trombone... perfect ballad playing on "Look To The Sky" and a nice, concise, melodic solo on "Lamento." I wish Urbie could've had his own album on A&M--but I suppose he was still under contract with the Command label at that time. CTi had pretty much fallen prey to the "fuzak" syndrome by the time Creed Taylor finally signed him to CTi as a solo artist (1976). :|

Does anyone know which tracks Jimmy Cleveland plays on? He's credited on the LP and CD, but the liner notes only mention that Urbie solos on "almost every track." Is that Jimmy on "Antigua," perhaps?

- William
 
William said:
I can't believe I forgot to mention Urbie! My main man on trombone... perfect ballad playing on "Look To The Sky" and a nice, concise, melodic solo on "Lamento." I wish Urbie could've had his own album on A&M--but I suppose he was still under contract with the Command label at that time. CTi had pretty much fallen prey to the "fuzak" syndrome by the time Creed Taylor finally signed him to CTi as a solo artist (1976). :|

Ahh, the dreaded The Fox and the not-too-bad Senor Blues. I actually dug Urbie's version of "I Wish". There was a couple of good tunes on SB. But Fox was pretty bad. :thumbsdn:

William said:
Does anyone know which tracks Jimmy Cleveland plays on? He's credited on the LP and CD, but the liner notes only mention that Urbie solos on "almost every track." Is that Jimmy on "Antigua," perhaps?

I had just assumed that Jimmy was a section man on the date. There is one tune that didn't sound like Urbie, but I forget which track it was.


Capt. Bacardi
...whose vacation just ended offline... :sad:
 
The second Sinatra/Jobim album (the one with Deodato) was originally intended to be a full LP, but Reprise ended up cutting out a few songs, leaving seven to fill one side of the Sinatra & Company record. The three songs they cut out ("Bonita," "Sabia," and "Desafinado") can only be found on the giant 20-CD box set, The Complete Reprise Recordings Of Frank Sinatra (aka "the Sinatra suitcase").


Our AM station Program Director is a Sinatra buff, and I asked him today if he had that Reprise "suitcase" set. He does, and he's going to let me dub off those three extra Jobim tracks. His opinion however, is that those three were left off of albums for a reason -- they're not all that good. Still, I'll be happy to hear them.

Harry
...limited in his Sinatra fandom, online...
 
They would make a nice "bonus" in addition to the other 1-1/2 Sinatra/Jobim albums. In fact, that should make the track count an even 20.

-= N vious =-
 
Cool! Perhaps you'd be so kind as to drop me a line one of these days... :wink:

IMO, one track that should've been left off of Sinatra's LPs is "Wave"... that ultra-low note he attempts to hit at the end of each chorus ("...whenever two can dream a dream toge-THER") is painful!

I've heard "Bonita" online, and I seem to recall liking it. There's a very nice, very atmospheric intro by a section of bass flutes that immediately attracted me.

- William
 
I'd like to know if anyone has the recently remastered Sinatra/Jobim album, and if it's worth trading up from the original release.

My guess is the "suitcase" probably has all remastered tracks on it.

-= N =-
 
Captain Bacardi said:
Ahh, the dreaded The Fox and the not-too-bad Senor Blues. I actually dug Urbie's version of "I Wish". There was a couple of good tunes on SB. But Fox was pretty bad. :thumbsdn:

That's a bit ironic. I had the choice of getting either Senor or Fox, and went with the latter because I had read that Grover Washington (who I don't like) was on the former. Looks like I chose wrong...

- William
 
Rudy said:
I'd like to know if anyone has the recently remastered Sinatra/Jobim album, and if it's worth trading up from the original release.

After being an owner of the LP for years, I somehow never managed to upgrade to CD for ages. When I finally did, I recall seeing both an older version and a newly remastered version. Curiously, the newly remastered version was cheaper, so that's the one I bought. It certainly sounds better than my LP, but I don't have the original issue CD to compare it to.

Harry
NP: SINATRA & COMPANY
 
My dad had the album since it came out, but I never played it...maybe once or twice when I was younger, but since it wasn't the upbeat, happy TJB type of music, I never played it. I think I bought mine in the late 80's or very early in the 90's, which would have been the original CD. It doesn't sound all that bad for an original issue, which made me wonder if upgrading it to the remastered version was even worth it.

-= N =-
 
William said:
That's a bit ironic. I had the choice of getting either Senor or Fox, and went with the latter because I had read that Grover Washington (who I don't like) was on the former. Looks like I chose wrong...

Actually, Grover sounded pretty decent on this album, especially on the title tune as well as Mingus' "Ysabel's Table Dance", where he does some straight-ahead playing. On Fox, the only tune I really liked was "Another Star", but the rest didn't do much for me.


Capt. Bacardi
 
FYI-The Complete Reprise Sinatra has benn printed twice.The "suitcase"(my # is 3286) had a run of 20,000-10,000 for the US and 10,000 for the world. Almost all of this went out of WEA's warehouse by the time the Frank died in 1998,though there are possibly sealed copies out there. Late 1998,WEA brought out a cheaper($300 vs $500) version of the box,without the luggage but with the discs the same and hardbound book included. According to an Amazon reviewer the individual remastered discs,which started coming out in 1998,are better sounding than the material in the Complete box. I bought " Live At The Sands" from the remastered series and,though I don't have the old CD for comparison,sounds fine and includes a live version of "Luck Be A Lady". I only wish Tina Sinatra would approve a Complete Live Reprise Years(Sands,Paris,Main Event plus audio versions of the TV specials) that would gather,clean up and give accurate information. The Man & His Music II features Jobim and Ella-a magical hour. The "Main Event" LP is considerably different from the"Main Event" TV broadcast and is believed to be made up of recordings from everywhere but Madison Square Garden,where the TV show originated. Yes,the suitcase is not for the casual fan but there are hidden treasures beyond Frank's disco "Night & Day" and "Everybody's Twistin'". Mac
 
Mac--interesting about the Sinatra set. My original Sinatra Reprise CDs don't sound all that bad...maybe a little noisier than they should be, but it's better than a lot of other 60's-era albums that made it to CD with less than stellar results back in the 80's.

It'd be interesting to have the Ella/Jobim tracks on a CD where I could copy off the Jobim tracks and add them to my own Sinatra/Jobim compilation. I figure with the original album, half of Sinatra & Company, the three unreleased tracks from the "suitcase," and these live tracks, it would make a very nice CD. Surprised Reprise hasn't thought of it yet.

-= N =-
 
I had no idea there was a sort of Sinatra dicussion going on back here. The collaborations with Jobim are very top rated and really mark a high point in Sinatra's career. I have the first album (Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim) from the 20 bit remaster series (Artist of the Century), I like the CD and the songs but by 1967 Frank's voice wasn't sounding the way it used to. My favorite tracks from that one are "Girl From Ipanema", "Dindi", "I Concentrate on You", and "Once I Loved". There is another song I like that was arranged by Claus Ogerman called "Drinking Again" (which would appear on The World We Knew ). It's probably the only song on that album I like since it mostly has late '60's shclock like "This Town". I ordered Sinatra & Company last year off of Amazon.com and there are some nice arrangements on that album, but there was no need to have those Don Costa arrangements like the easy listening tune "Bein' Green". "Wave", by far is my favorite Sinatra/ Jobim track. I like how Eumir Deodato added those horns in there during the instrumental interlude. I can agree about how Frank goes too low on that "whenever two can dream a dream togetha...". I think it was better sung on Brasil '66's version. Joe, who wishes Frank and Jobim could have collaborated about 7 years earlier and that Sinatra & Company can be reissued in that "Artist of the Century" series in glorious sound...
 
We were kinda wondering when you'd get around to finding a Sinatra discussion here at the Corner, Joe. Looks like you found it!

I finally got ahold of those "missing three" that William mentioned in an earlier part of this thread. "Bonita", "Desafinado", and "Song Of The Sabia" make for a nifty set of bonus tracks to a homemade, expanded Sinatra/Jobim CD.

Harry
NP: Aqua De Beber, Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
 
I bet those sound better than "Bein' Green", "Close to You", and "Leavin' on a Jet Plane"! :wink: Joe, "so close your eyes... for that's a lovely way to be..."
 
Sorry, but I have a soft spot in my heart for Frank's rendition of "Bein' Green." It's probably the ONLY thing on side two of the SINATRA & COMPANY album that I do like, but I really DO like it.

Harry
...defending Frank's frog songs, online...
 
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