Jobim in New York: Wave's American Sessions
Jobim brought bossa nova sophistication to a New York studio, crafting songs so natural they sound inevitable.
In 1967, Antônio Carlos Jobim traveled to the United States to record Wave with a hand-picked ensemble of American jazz musicians. The session paired Jobim's guitar and piano with Ron Carter on bass, Claudio Slon on drums, and Dom Um Romão and Bobby Rosengarden layering percussion—a combination that anchored Jobim's melodies in American swing sensibility without losing the rhythmic DNA of bossa nova. Brass players Jimmy Cleveland and Urbie Green on trombone and Joseph Singer on French horn added warmth and weight, filling the arrangements without crowding them.
What emerged was a set of absolutely first-rate tunes that proved Jobim could operate in the American jazz studio without compromise. "Wave" and "Triste" became instant standards, songs so perfectly proportioned they seem to have always existed. The album sat at just over 31 minutes, lean and direct—no filler, no gestures toward the zeitgeist, just songs that work because they're built right. AllMusic reviewer Richard S. Ginell praised the compositions for escaping overexposure and sounding fresh decades later.
This is middle-period Jobim, comfortable enough in his idiom to speak its language fluently to American musicians and listeners. Wave charted modestly at the time but endured because the songwriting is too strong to fade. Guitar Player magazine recognized it as one of the 40 greatest guitar albums of 1967, and it later ranked among the 100 greatest Brazilian music records by Rolling Stone Brasil. Not his most celebrated work, but one where he proved he didn't need his home studio or a Brazilian ensemble to make something that lasts.
Who's playing
Ron Carterdouble bass
Antônio Carlos Jobimguitar, piano
Jimmy Clevelandtrombone
Urbie Greentrombone
Claudio Slondrums
Dom Um Romãopercussion
Bobby Rosengardenpercussion
Joseph SingerFrench horn
Where next?
More by Antonio Carlos Jobim
All 37 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
