The Mountains, The Sun and the Sea – The Art of Antonio Carlos Jobim

The Mountains, The Sun and the Sea – The Art of Antonio Carlos Jobim comprises the landmark early Brazilian recordings of the composer, spanning the first decade of his career; the historic albums Jobim participated in making and a quantity of his songs – 78s and singles – recorded by popular Brazilian singers of the day. Taking much of his inspiration from nature, Jobim’s music has been described as the embodiment of Brazil itself and may be considered a metaphor for the optimism of a nation that was at the time enjoying a brief period of Democracy.

To a Brazilian popular music scene weighed-down by heavily orchestrated melodrama, Jobim’s music came as a breath of fresh air, bringing lightness, a deceptive simplicity, space, subtlety and understatement. Whether writing alone, or with partners such as Billy Blanco, Newton Mendonça, Dolores Duran, Luiz Bonfá, or, most fruitfully and enduringly, with the poet Vinicius de Moraes, Jobim was central to a Latin-American musical revolution that would have global implications.