by Richard S. Ginell
Though this is one of the more obscure Jobim albums, it did introduce what some believe is Jobim's masterpiece, the hypnotically revolving song &Aguas de Marco& (heard here in Portuguese and English versions). Mostly, however, the record lets listeners in on another side of Jobim, the Debussy/Villa-Lobos-inspired creator of moody instrumental tone poems for films and whatnot, with the instrumental colors filled in by Jobim's old cohort, Claus Ogerman. This was supposed to be a breakthrough for Jobim, bursting out of the bossa nova idiom into uncharted territory, yet a lot of this often undeniably beautiful music merely treads over ground that Villa-Lobos explored long before (&Train to Cordisburgo& especially). In any case, Jobim would explore his serious muse with greater success later on.