INTERVIEW: Celebrate Jobim’s songbook at special Town Hall concert
Photo: Stacey Kent will join Danilo Caymmi at a special tribute show to Antônio Carlos Jobim. Photo courtesy of Benoit Peverelli / Provided by Cindy Byram PR with permission.
The sounds of Brazil have found a home at The Town Hall in Midtown Manhattan. For years and years, this vaunted venue has played host to some of the musical greats who have exported sonic pleasures from the South American country, treating New Yorkers with sounds of bossa nova and other unique styles. This cross-country pollination shows no signs of stopping.
On Saturday, April 12, one of the most important composers in Brazilian music history will be celebrated at The Town Hall. That night will see two talented singers — Stacey Kent and Danilo Caymmi — feting the late, great instrumentalist Antônio Carlos Jobim. The show is called A Tribute to Tom Jobim (Tom was Antônio’s nickname), and it was placed on the calendar in 2025 to honor the 30th anniversary of Jobim’s death, according to press notes. This pairing of Kent and Caymmi is particularly exciting because Kent has become an astute student of Brazilian bossa nova, and Caymmi shared a stage with Jobim and hails from a legendary family of musicians himself.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Kent about her contributions to the special evening and the influences Jobim had on her career. It’s hard to find a singer who hasn’t been impacted by the Brazilian artist’s output; having one’s own rendition of Jobim’s “The Girl From Ipanema” is practically a prerequisite to building a jazz career nowadays.
And what a jazz career Kent has built. The New Jersey native started gaining a name for herself in London in the 1990s and then gathered fans in France, Germany and the United States. Her repertoire extends beyond bossa nova and includes many different styles. Her frequent collaborators are lyricist Kazuo Ishiguro and composer Jim Tomlinson. A few years ago, she was featured on Caymmi’s album Danilo Caymmi Canta Tom Jobim, and ever since the two have worked together. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
When did you first fall in love with the music of Tom Jobim?
I know exactly where I was when I first consciously heard this music. I was at a friend’s house after school. We would sit on the floor of his dad’s den and play cards and listen to records. He put on the famous record of Stan Getz and João Gilberto (Getz / Gilberto), and I said, ‘What is that ?!’ I went over to the record player, wrote down the info, and within a few days, I was across the street from my dad’s apartment at Tower Records on 66th Street. They had a Brazilian section, a whole cubicle. I bought Jobim records in there, and all my Brazilian loves branched out from there: João Gilberto, the whole Caymmi family, Marcos Valle, Edu Lobo, Joyce Moreno, Roberto Menescal, Milton Nascimento, Nara Leão, Luis Gonzaga, Miuch, Banda Nova. It’s a ridiculously long list of discoveries I made on 66th Street, years before I ever visited Brazil.
Are the music styles from Brazil transfixing? Have you been inspired by the country’s sonic exports?
I’m inspired by so much of it. I realized at a young age that I had this connection to their culture without even being able to break it down. It was a chemistry, a shared sensibility. Too much to say here, but at the heart of it was this poignant, beautiful balance between joy and pain, melancholy and hope. Vinicius de Moraes, the great Brazilian poet, put it so perfectly in “Samba Sarava”: “Samba is the hope of one day no longer being sad.” They sing about and describe the human condition. Regardless of the sadness, there is always hope, and a joy comes from that drop of sadness. I love the rhythms and melodies and lyrics, of course, but I love most of all that central characteristic: the humanity. And Jobim writes so tenderly about love and Mother Nature, exactly the kinds of songs that draw me in.
What can audiences expect from this tribute show?
Danilo Caymmi grew up with Jobim, played, performed and toured with him for many years, so if there’s anybody to convey and share the music and heart and soul of António Carlos Jobim, it’s Danilo. It is beyond stunning and beyond description to be standing beside Danilo, singing these songs in duet and hearing his gorgeous voice and flute right beside me. I am so honored that Danilo invited me to help him celebrate the life and music of Jobim, present these songs and carry the torch. The evening is filled with love and groove and tenderness and joy. Everybody’s beaming on this show.
How has the collaboration been going with Danilo Caymmi?
Danilo asked me (and Jim, my husband and sax and flute player) to guest on his … Jobim tribute album, Caymmi Canta Jobim. We were knocked out that he asked. We didn’t know at that point that we’d be touring around the world together! How’s it going? — it’s sublime!
Is singing bossa nova particularly challenging? There seems to be some vocal restraint that’s needed because the songs can be softer.
Singing in this style feels natural and right to me, as I mentioned above. I share their sensibility. The masters who inspired and taught me, like Jobim, Joao Gilberto, Edu Lobo, all sang in a personal, confidential way, whether they were alone with guitar / piano or with an orchestra. That had a great influence on me. When I made my orchestral album, I Know I Dream, I channeled them. There’s what I’d refer to as a gentle tension, a push-pull feeling, in the rhythm, in the emotion. I liken this style to the motion of the waves, in and out and always a propulsion in one direction or another. Wherever we perform in the world (and I’ve performed in 57 countries), the music that seems to grab people the most is the bossa nova. I can deconstruct it to a certain extent, but it really is not explainable. It’s just a feeling, an emotion, a chemistry.
Was there a lot of music in your New Jersey home when you were growing up?
Yes. We watched a lot of movies as a family, including musicals, so there was Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney. Then I had siblings a good deal older than I was, so I was influenced by their folk music and ‘60s loves: Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, the Grateful Dead, Carole King. Then there were The Beach Boys! And Willie Nelson! Glenn Campbell and music from the West. It was an eclectic household, but there was always music. Ella Fitzgerald and Nat Cole. The Brazilians! (I brought these in).
My parents listened to a lot of classical music. We grew up across from The Met, so there was opera. My mother loved Maria Callas, and she also played piano. So there was Ravel, Debussy, Chopin. I would sit by her and devour these; I loved this harmony. Thinking about it now, the French impressionists were also a huge influence on Jobim. All comes full circle.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
A Tribute to Tom Jobim, featuring Stacey Kent and Danilo Caymmi, will play Saturday, April 12, at The Town Hall in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
