Morelenbaum/Sakamoto

MORELENBAUM/SAKAMOTO
CASA
SONY CLASSICAL

Unlike infants, DJs and classical composers, Antonio Carlos Jobim can be taken everywhere. His classic songs such as "Aguas de Marco" and, yes, "The Girl From Ipanema" fit perfectly in both steamy nightclubs and cultured salons. Those Kennedy-era tunes were a postmodern trip before mixing pop with classical music became hip, and Ryuichi Sakamoto and Jacques Morelenbaum are among the few who can guide these sounds to sublime results, no matter the destination. They performed before on the spectacular 1996 DJ-culture re-imagining of Jobim's work, Red Hot + Rio. Here, they play some of Jobim's lesser-known work in a classical setting, and the Brazilian maestro has never sounded better. With Sakamoto on piano, Morelenbaum on cello and Paula Morelenbaum on vocals, they completely capture the simple, airy, bittersweet impressions that made Jobim's work both haunting and revolutionary. They even get a little wild on this album with a feral improvisation on a bonus track. It's a bête noire for this cultured party, but it fits: Jobim welcomes all.