Do you wince each time you hear these pearls?
I took your picture with my trusty Rolleiflex
And find that all I have developed is a complex
Or these?
But each day as she walks to the sea
She looks straight ahead, not at he
by Daniella Thompson
With lyricists like Gene Lees (who wrote the former), Norman
Gimbel (author of the latter), and Ray Gilbert (who turned “O Morro Não Tem Vez”
into “Somewhere in the Hills”), no wonder Tom Jobim eventually figured out he
was better off writing his own English lyrics.
Mal Adam and Chris
Slater thought it was time the originals received more respectful translations.
The results are available on the new CD Nova Jobim
from Puratone Recordings in Hull, England.
The new translations don’t
pretend to be poetry, but they are competent lyrics that convey the spirit and
meaning of the original songs.
Performed by vocalist Lyn Acton
with Bossa Loco, the songs are not exactly what I would call Brazilian
music.
Although the blurb on the Puratone site claims that
“[co-producer] Jay [Moy]’s knowledge of samba rhythms really helped to place the
bossa nova where we wanted it””as part of samba before being part of jazz,“
there’s actually more jazz than samba here.
That shouldn’t disturb bossa
nova lovers who aren’t samba purists. Listen to audio samples.
Lyn Acton + Bossa Loco:
Nova Jobim, volume 1
(Puratone Recordings
PURA004 CD; 2004) 56:17 min.
01. ígua de Beber [Water to Drink]
02.
Brigas Nunca Mais [Fight No More]
03. O Amor em Paz [Once I Loved]
04. A
Felicidade [Happiness]
05. Desafinado [Slightly Out of Tune]
06. Corcovado
[Quiet Nights, Quiet Stars]
07. Chega de Saudade [No More Blues]
08.
Meditação [Meditation]
09. O Morro Não Tem Vez [Favela]
10. Insensatez
[How Insensitive]
11. Garota de Ipanema [Girl From Ipanema]
12. Vivo
Sonhando [Dreamer]
You can read more about Brazilian music and culture at
Daniella Thompson on Brazil here: http://daniv.blogspot.com/