VA - The Girl from Ipanema: The Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook (1995)

The first of several tribute albums issued just after Antonio Carlos Jobim's death, this one generally sticks to his most famous songs as interpreted by several Brazilian and American artists from PolyGram's archives. Jobim himself appears on such obvious choices as the best-selling Stan Getz, João Gilberto, and Astrud Gilberto hit "The Girl from Ipanema," and with Astrud on "Agua de Beber" and "Dindi," and again with Elis Regina on an "Aguas de Marco" that nearly breaks up with laughter. The American contributions are a mixed bag; Sarah Vaughan's "Corcovado," for example, is rather inappropriately overwrought but Wes Montgomery's "Insensatez" is a beautiful recording, with Jobim's favored arranger, Claus Ogerman, in top wistful form. The other jazzers on the CD are Billy Eckstine, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Shirley Horn, and Dizzy Gillespie, proving that Jobim's timelessly aching music attracted quite a diverse cross-section of admirers.