Various Artists
A Twist of Jobim

1997Musicians: Lee Ritenour, Yellowjackets, El DeBarge, Al Jarreau, Oleta Adams, Eric Marienthal, Ernie Watts, Herbie Hancock, Dave Grusin, and others.

Rating:

I’ll warn you right off the bat that this is a contemporary take on the great works of Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim. This project is the result of the Carnegie Hall tribute to Jobim shortly after he passed away. GRP had recorded the proceedings, but multiple legal and contractual hurdles have just about ensured that we’ll never hear that recording.

Undeterred, Lee Ritenour assembled a cast of all-star musicians and recorded this ‘Twist of Jobim’ project on his newly-formed record label i.e.music, a unit of Polygram. His influence is evident throughout. Ritenour appears on most of the tracks. If you’re curious about what this sounds like, think of some of the recent Ritenour albums like ‘Portrait’, ‘Festival’ and ‘Color Rit’. Joining Ritenour on various tracks are Al Jarreau and Oleta Adams, Eric Marienthal, Ernie Watts, Yellowjackets, Herbie Hancock, El DeBarge and Dave Grusin, among others.

Overall, I really like this project. It brings together some of my favorite artists playing the music of one of my favorite composers. IMO, it comes off very well in the execution. Jarreau and Adams are paired on “Waters of March” and “Girl from Ipanema” to good effect, the latter featuring a sample of Joao Gilberto’s original version from the classic ‘Getz/Gilberto’ and the piano of Russell Ferrante. Russ is featured with Yellowjackets on one of my favorite Jobim tracks, “Mojave”.

An unusual track is “Dindi”, sung by none other than soul/R&B singer El DeBarge. It works, but only marginally so. DeBarge doesn’t quite have the delivery of a classic jazz singer, and to me the tired hip-hop-styled beat just doesn’t fit. It’s not bad, just not all that original. It has “Top 40” intensions written all over it.

Dyed-in-the-wool Jobim fans will likely appreciate any chance to hear their favorite composer’s works in a new light. This album delivers! And given its genre-crossing styles of jazz, funk and pop, it could be a moderate crossover success.

Enjoy!