Customer Reviews

Stone Flower

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I missed this album when it first came out and wasn't even aware of its existence until this reissue appeared in stores several years ago. What an album it is, from the urbane textures of Tereza My Love, which is spectacular, to the closing bars of the classic Brazil, I sat transfixed as I listened to its suave sophistication note by note.
Jobim made many records, but this is one of his best. In addition to the above named cuts, Choro and Adorinha are my favorites. Able backing is provided by such musical giants as Urbie Green, Hubert Laws, Joe Farrell, Airto Moreira, and others.
This is an album which will soothe the savage beast within and completely change your outlook if you are having a rotten day. I could rhapsodize about its many charms for hours but let it suffice to say that I recommend this masterpiece of the sublime in the strongest terms.

This release is one of Jobim's best. It is a perfect mixture of the different moods found througout his work. It combines the classical sensibility of Jobim and Urubu with the beautiful bossa of Wave and Tide. For those who wonder why this man is regarded so highly by so many people, this album offers all the reasons why. It is a great introduction (even though this is not considered one of the classics) to Jobim's varied styles and moods. For long-time fans this is an essential addition to an already spectacular catalog. Complex, sensual music with that looming melancholy that informs the best of Jobim.

This album, along with "Tide", are in my opinion, the best recordings Jobim ever made. This album is very similar to "Tide", which was recorded only a few months earlier. Again, Eumir Deodato proves he is an arranger of vast and rare talent, enhancing Jobim's always-beautiful compositions with instrumentation that is rich, dense, and always original. The whole album is excellent, with each successive track providing a slightly different musical journey and variations on instrumentation. A few of the pieces are rather dark, but really interesting. The long cut of "Brazil" is really groovy and is one of the highlights of the album. Also "Tereza, My Love" and "Children's Games" provide lighter and really melodic lines that make you wish the tracks were longer. The usual cast of top-notch jazz and session players are included, like Ron Carterm Hubert Laws, as well as Airto and a few more ace Brazilian and american instrumentalists. Overall a supremely substantial album full of fresh sounds and great compositions- all very well produced and well recorded for maximum enjoyment.

I'll add my praises of this disc to all the others. I fell totally in LOVE with Bossa Nova back in high school. I collected everything I could, from Best of Sergio Mendes - which is also very highly recommended to those who love this genre- to Joao Gilberto. In fact I made a trip to Brazil back in 1975 because I had to see this land where this sublime music came from. Anyway back to the disc. I had everything Jobim had recorded but this one intrigued me the most. It was his darkest and most complex. Worth adding to any collection of jazz, bossa, latin or anything else.

This is the greatest in bossa nova bar none and would be my pick of what music straight from Heaven sounds like. Antonio Carlos Jobim is the underrated genius of the genre and his recordings are beyond words for description. Both cuts of "Brazil" are priceless and the song "Sabia" is worth the price of this album alone. The new 2002 reissue has new liner nothes and a crystal-clear sound, giving them the greatest of sound quality for the full effect. Do yourself a favor and get this, it will send you to places you never thought possible.

Fine musicians are those whose names you don't know when you first heard them and you were young. Fine musicians are those who, years later (as you mature), you hear their music and can identify their style and appreciate their music. Then you frantically search the entire internet to find their recordings because your parents' vinyls are demolished. ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM has been my inspiration when I was a little girl in the 60's. His music lasted in my head and this album, STONE FLOWER, is the album I most remembered. His graceful style as he strums the guitar and as he gently caresses the keys on the keyboard and piano is as gentle as the wind of tropical climate. BRAZIL and TERESA MY LOVE (actually the whole entire album) is my favorite and will be my source of music when I retire from this planet. TRULY AN ACE OF MUSIC. One of our finest musician who left us the perfect images of Brazilian Jazz (BOSSA NOVA).

Another 5-star Jobim collaboration with producer Creed Taylor for his CTi label with arrangements by Deodato and a team of Jazz master musicians featuring Urbie Green and Hubert Laws.

Repertoire consists of Jobim material except for traditional Brazilian composer Ary Barroso's 'Brazil'.

Part of Jobim's compositions is music he composed for the film 'The Adventurers' also with arrangements by Deodato, issued in a very rare soundtrack album by Paramount label. Unfortunately, out of print.

Refer to the beautiful waltz 'Children's Games' which was also recorded by Elis Regina in her 'Elis & Tom' under the Portuguese title 'Chovendo na Roseira'.

A fundamental Jobim and Bossa Nova and Great Music album!

"Stone Flower" isn't one of Jobim's most popular albums, but it represents some of his finest works. Superbly arranged by Eumir Deodato, it features Jobim playing more jazz on the acoustic and electric piano. He also sings in his characteristic unaffected style on "Brazil," and "Sabia." Deodato also plays acoustic guitar on some of the tracks.

The selections are diverse in tempo and mood. "Children's Games" has an alternating 3/4 - 2/4 shift in the middle chorus. Written originally for the film "The Adventurers," it was later renamed, "Chovendo na Roseira," when Jobim added lyrics to it. Gene Lees added English lyrics to it and the song also became known as "Double Rainbow." There's an interesting musical dialogue between the trombone and the bass flute towards the end of the piece.

The lyrical and haunting "Amparo" showcases Jobim's gift for writing beautiful melodies. Reminiscent of a Schubert Impromptu, its delicate melody underlies a rather complicated left-hand part that gives the piece its mellifluous quality. Also written for the same film, "Amparo" was renamed "Olha Maria" when Vinicius de Moraes and Chico Buarque added lyrics to it. Both "Amparo" (Olha Maria) and "Children's Games" (Double Rainbow) appear under those alternate titles on Jobim's Terra Brasilis album. [See "The Best of Two Worlds" by Stan Getz and Joćo Gilberto for a vocal version of "Double Rainbow"].

The highlight of the album is Ary Barroso's "Brazil" (or "Aquarela do Brazil"). The steady, unrelenting beat of the percussion section is a listening delight in itself. Jobim's straight, no-frills playing and singing bring out the melodic simplicity and beauty of this Barroso classic.

"Stone Flower" is a fine, welcome addition to the list of Antonio Carlos Jobim CD reissues. The new, remastered CD has a very clear and warm sound. Gone is the distortion that marred some of the tracks in the original LP and the first CD reissue. That's good news for Jobim album collectors.

I saw this album in the store and bought it on a hunch. Boy, am I glad.

This is some of the most interesting music I have come across in a long time. Jobim's cover of 'Brazil' is an absolute revelation. The arrangement is superb, and his husky vocals do glorious justice to this oustanding composition. The rest of the album is a series of gems all penned by Jobim.

This album, along with his earlier bossa nova compositions, solidifies Jobim as one of the most important popular music composers of the past century. The pianos and guitars weave thick musical tapestries that are both infectious and enlightening.

All the great reviews of this disc are true. Jobim created more sheer beauty with his melodies and chord progressions and arrangements (often by Eumir Deodato) than any other musician I know. His influence on artists as diverse as Pat Metheny and Micheal Franks and Sting is obvious. In fact, "Andorinho" on this album sounds like the track that Metheny heard and said "that's the vibe I want to put across." As a musician I am simply in awe of Jobim's brilliance. This is a great recording.