Under the kind shadow of the great Tom
Ivan Lins releases Jobiniando, an album inspired by the music of Tom Jobim and produced by Roberto Menescal
Marco Antonio Barbosa
09/05/2001
Listeners, musical critics and die-hard fans might not realize, but the fact is that Jobiniando, the singer/composer’s 26th album, sets the beginning of a new phase in Ivan’s career. With the close collaboration of Roberto Manescal - it’s the first time they’ve worked together - Ivan Lins now says he wants to "make healthy records"; albums that have a pre-determined and defined concept, and that are mainly aimed at his international career. The new course was taken after an album that started as a tribute to Bossa Nova, then turned into an homage to Tom Jobim and ended up not being either one, but instead, a record anointed by the "aura" of Bossa’s originating maestro.
"It’s not a tribute to Tom, but a record guided by his spirit. I wanted to get the feel of his harmonies, sophistication, tranquility and beauty", explains Ivan. "I came to this direction because I wanted to work with an icon like Tom, I wanted to have a specific ‘theme’ that would define the facet of the record", continues the singer. "This is going to be the purpose of my life: to tell stories with my albums. I can’t and don’t want to make a record that sets off in all directions." Upon hearing this comment, producer Menescal tips off: "An album must have a tight concept. Ivan didn’t use to do this. But all of Jobiniando follows the same feel, there’s unity." Ivan recalls he had tried to make theme records before. "Anjo de Mim
(95) was an album in which I wanted to have a Rio de Janeiro feel. And there was also 1997’s Viva Noel, only with Noel Rosa’s music."
On its search for coherence, the album includes ten songs by Jobim (Caminhos Cruzados, Vivo Sonhando/Triste, Inútil Paisagem, Samba do Avião, Bonita, Este Teu Olhar/Promessas, Dindi and Eu Sei que Vou Te Amar). There are also new songs by Ivan, co-written with Martinho da Vila (the title track), with Celso Viáfora (Rio de Maio) and with Abel Silva (Acaso). Everything according to the feel of the record, of course. "My jobinian tunes come a long way", says Ivan, referring to Jobim’s growing influence on his songs. "Rio de Maio, for instance, was written a couple of years ago, for a specific Tom tribute project that never came to life. And the song ended up having Tom’s style." This contributed to the overall unity of the CD. "The album has a perfect order, the tracks complete one another, making up a whole thing. One can hear all of it, without being startled. As Ivan says, it’s a healthy record. This has also got to do with the pre-production work he did in his Teresópolis (small town in the mountains near Rio) house. In a beautiful place like that, one can only get this kind of inspiration", completes Menescal.
The project had many changes along its way. The idea of a Bossa Nova album was suggested by the president of Ivan’s record company, Abril Music. "That was in 1999. He told me to record only Bossa classics, but I had many songs in store: I hadn’t released a composer album for five years. So, I ended up making a Christmas album (1999’s Um Novo Tempo) and followed up with A Cor do Pôr-do-sol (2000), in order to find an outlet for my built up production. That album was an outpouring of my composer side." Roberto Menescal adds: "Since he had a lot of accumulated work, A Cor... set off to many directions at the same time; there are ballads, baião, jazz… It was a composer album, but it lacked unity. On the other hand, in Jobiniando the starting point is Tom Jobim, but it starts in Tom’s style and gradually turns to Ivan’s."
After the success of the Christmas record - more than 250 thousand copies sold, which gave Ivan his first platinum album - and of his composer "outburst", the idea of the Bossa Nova album emerged again. "The label had suggested a record with re-recorded classics and a few new songs, plus the version of Soberana Rosa (the song by Ivan that was awarded a Grammy this year, in Sting’s voice), anticipating the international career of the album", recalls Ivan. "I needed an album for international release, and A Cor... didn’t have the ideal profile for that. So I went along with it." The first step was to call in Roberto Menescal, who according Ivan, "was crucial in all stages of the work". "As we were recording, we realized that it would be better to make an album inspired by Jobim, instead of just re-recording his music", says Menescal.
The final step was taken by Martinho Da Vila. The samba artist wrote the lyrics to two melodies Ivan had given him as a birthday gift. The first one, Presente aos Fãs, was recorded on Martinho’s last album; the second one was offered back to Ivan, with the title...Jobiniando. "And he didn’t even know we had this project!", says Ivan. "That could only be a sign. It was almost psychic", completes Menescal. In the studio, the first-time duo worked well. "Ivan’s problem is the opposite of everybody else’s: with him, the struggle is to make him stop working. He’s such an obsessed and meticulous artist that if I let him, he’d be working on the album until today…", jokes Menescal. Ivan was impressed with the versatility of the Bossa Nova veteran. "I had no idea he was so modern. He’s able to play pop electric guitar in the more contemporary grooves as any young musician would."
To promote Ivan’s new phase with Jobiniando, the album should have a luxurious treatment abroad. The record will be released in January in the U.S. and Japan, where the singer has faithful fans. "In Japan, they call me ‘the new Tom Jobim’", claims Ivan. The international edition of the album is going to feature a version of Soberana Rosa - She Walks This Earth - along with the re-recording of Time After Time, the American standard that Frank Sinatra made famous. "Soberana Rosa is also a jobinian song, and it fit well in the CD", says Ivan. The singer is touring the U.S. in August, and already talks about a new Grammy. "The label is thrilled with the possibility." Not bad for what was meant to be "just another" tribute to Bossa Nova.
"It’s not a tribute to Tom, but a record guided by his spirit. I wanted to get the feel of his harmonies, sophistication, tranquility and beauty", explains Ivan. "I came to this direction because I wanted to work with an icon like Tom, I wanted to have a specific ‘theme’ that would define the facet of the record", continues the singer. "This is going to be the purpose of my life: to tell stories with my albums. I can’t and don’t want to make a record that sets off in all directions." Upon hearing this comment, producer Menescal tips off: "An album must have a tight concept. Ivan didn’t use to do this. But all of Jobiniando follows the same feel, there’s unity." Ivan recalls he had tried to make theme records before. "Anjo de Mim
(95) was an album in which I wanted to have a Rio de Janeiro feel. And there was also 1997’s Viva Noel, only with Noel Rosa’s music."On its search for coherence, the album includes ten songs by Jobim (Caminhos Cruzados, Vivo Sonhando/Triste, Inútil Paisagem, Samba do Avião, Bonita, Este Teu Olhar/Promessas, Dindi and Eu Sei que Vou Te Amar). There are also new songs by Ivan, co-written with Martinho da Vila (the title track), with Celso Viáfora (Rio de Maio) and with Abel Silva (Acaso). Everything according to the feel of the record, of course. "My jobinian tunes come a long way", says Ivan, referring to Jobim’s growing influence on his songs. "Rio de Maio, for instance, was written a couple of years ago, for a specific Tom tribute project that never came to life. And the song ended up having Tom’s style." This contributed to the overall unity of the CD. "The album has a perfect order, the tracks complete one another, making up a whole thing. One can hear all of it, without being startled. As Ivan says, it’s a healthy record. This has also got to do with the pre-production work he did in his Teresópolis (small town in the mountains near Rio) house. In a beautiful place like that, one can only get this kind of inspiration", completes Menescal.
The project had many changes along its way. The idea of a Bossa Nova album was suggested by the president of Ivan’s record company, Abril Music. "That was in 1999. He told me to record only Bossa classics, but I had many songs in store: I hadn’t released a composer album for five years. So, I ended up making a Christmas album (1999’s Um Novo Tempo) and followed up with A Cor do Pôr-do-sol
(2000), in order to find an outlet for my built up production. That album was an outpouring of my composer side." Roberto Menescal adds: "Since he had a lot of accumulated work, A Cor... set off to many directions at the same time; there are ballads, baião, jazz… It was a composer album, but it lacked unity. On the other hand, in Jobiniando the starting point is Tom Jobim, but it starts in Tom’s style and gradually turns to Ivan’s." After the success of the Christmas record - more than 250 thousand copies sold, which gave Ivan his first platinum album - and of his composer "outburst", the idea of the Bossa Nova album emerged again. "The label had suggested a record with re-recorded classics and a few new songs, plus the version of Soberana Rosa (the song by Ivan that was awarded a Grammy this year, in Sting’s voice), anticipating the international career of the album", recalls Ivan. "I needed an album for international release, and A Cor... didn’t have the ideal profile for that. So I went along with it." The first step was to call in Roberto Menescal, who according Ivan, "was crucial in all stages of the work". "As we were recording, we realized that it would be better to make an album inspired by Jobim, instead of just re-recording his music", says Menescal.
The final step was taken by Martinho Da Vila. The samba artist wrote the lyrics to two melodies Ivan had given him as a birthday gift. The first one, Presente aos Fãs, was recorded on Martinho’s last album; the second one was offered back to Ivan, with the title...Jobiniando. "And he didn’t even know we had this project!", says Ivan. "That could only be a sign. It was almost psychic", completes Menescal. In the studio, the first-time duo worked well. "Ivan’s problem is the opposite of everybody else’s: with him, the struggle is to make him stop working. He’s such an obsessed and meticulous artist that if I let him, he’d be working on the album until today…", jokes Menescal. Ivan was impressed with the versatility of the Bossa Nova veteran. "I had no idea he was so modern. He’s able to play pop electric guitar in the more contemporary grooves as any young musician would."
To promote Ivan’s new phase with Jobiniando, the album should have a luxurious treatment abroad. The record will be released in January in the U.S. and Japan, where the singer has faithful fans. "In Japan, they call me ‘the new Tom Jobim’", claims Ivan. The international edition of the album is going to feature a version of Soberana Rosa - She Walks This Earth - along with the re-recording of Time After Time, the American standard that Frank Sinatra made famous. "Soberana Rosa is also a jobinian song, and it fit well in the CD", says Ivan. The singer is touring the U.S. in August, and already talks about a new Grammy. "The label is thrilled with the possibility." Not bad for what was meant to be "just another" tribute to Bossa Nova.