Antônio Carlos Jobim

Although he played guitar and harmonica as a boy, Antônio Carlos Jobim wasn’t interested in songwriting until his mother acquired a piano for their home. “It had all the notes,” he recalled. “I could go much further with it.” ∙ He went to college to become an architect but changed his focus to music after just one year of study. ∙ Elizeth Cardoso’s 1957 rendition of Jobim’s “Chega de Saudade” is generally regarded as the first bossa nova recording. ∙ The Academy Award-winning Brazilian film Black Orpheus introduced his music to the rest of the world, setting the stage for the bossa nova explosion of the early ’60s. ∙ Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd’s recording of Jobim’s “Desafinado” was the first big bossa nova hit in the US. ∙ Getz/Gilberto, Jobim’s 1964 album with Stan Getz and João Gilberto, won three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, making it the first jazz album to win that honor. ∙ Jobim’s “The Girl from Ipanema” won the 1965 Grammy Award for Record of the Year and has been recorded by more than 600 artists. ∙ Frank Sinatra was such a fan of Jobim’s work that he asked to record with him, resulting in the Grammy-nominated album Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim. ∙ Rio’s Galeão International Airport, which features prominently in Jobim’s song “Samba de Avião,” was renamed Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport in 1999.