JOBIM by Geovane Santos

Although JOBIM is an album packed with classic bossa novas written by Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, the album represents much more than a mere tribute to the composer and music genre that dominated the United States in the 1960s and the world in subsequent years. As an Afro Brazilian from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, who grew up playing classical guitar and surrounded by Brazilian popular music records, bossa nova was never a music genre that resonated with me, nor was it a music that I had played at all during my formative years of professional music training. Moving to the US in 2015 changed everything. The jazz fascination with bossa nova caused by the 1960s explosion of the genre spilled over me and I saw myself forced to abide to the demands and trends of the new territory I was entering.

None of the versions you will hear in this record match the original textures nor the arrangements so sought after when anyone thinks or talk about bossa nova. Deeply ingrained in the New Orleans' music scene- playing everything from funk to rock, jazz to contemporary improvisational music- I was working on a masters degree in Jazz Studies where my mind was being constantly challenged not by jazz theory classes, but rather by the realizations I had about the damaging effects that the bossa nova craze had in shaping the way non-Brazilians perceive / understand Brazil, its culture, and its people then and now. JOBIM is the culmination of a transformative process of personal and professional growth I entered as I planted roots in New Orleans while discovering / understanding my intersectional identity as an Afro Latino immigrant musician seeking to learn / comprehend jazz while being othered by jazz musicians seeking to learn / comprehend Brazilian music.

Everything in this album is intentional. The Black & White of the cover art was chosen to symbolize my positionality within the binary racial code under which the US functions, and as an Afro Latino immigrant, I live / exist in between the cracks of this limited system's understanding of the world. The arrangements were purposefully crafted to represent me as a carrier of the culture of my country in non-stereotypical / non-commercial ways. Tempos are faster than the originals - alluding to Samba's rhythmic energy, the choice of grooves are meant to surprise and intrigue listeners, as is the alternating between me (Geo) singing in Portuguese and Gio Blackmon singing in English, as well as the constant presence of instrumental numbers and jazz improvisation.

One more detail that is important to mention is that at the time I produced JOBIM I had four feet long dreadlocks and as a Black man in New Orleans I was not alone- dreadlocks are a cultural marker of the city and quite common. However, in the touristic parts of town where I played (and still play) gigs, the majority of the folks attending the venues were white people to whom my dreads were "exotic" and therefore a target for stereotypical comments. Besides the "you´re a Black Brazilian? You must be from Bahia", the "Are you part of the reggae band?" stuck with me the most, prompting a manifesto in the form of my arrangement of "The Girl From Ipanema".

For me, transforming the bossa nova classic into a reggae tune was as much an artistic deviation as a way for me to channel my frustration with constantly having to explain Brazilian racial demography / sociology / psychology to persuade people that I am Brazilian, always having to educate them on the facts that 52% of Brazil's population self-identifies as Black (the legacies of slavery) and that bossa nova isn't a fair representation of Brazilian cultural diversity. In my mind the arrangement opened up a dialogue to explore / expose anti-Black racism both in Brazilian and US American interpretation of Brazilian culture. As to be expected, the reviewer of OffBeat Magazine bit the bait:

"Sometimes the new ideas work, like hearing “Triste” transformed into an intriguing bop shuffle, but the closing reggae version of “Girl from Ipanema” is a serious misstep: the changes are just too complicated for that beat." https://www.offbeat.com/music/geovane-santos-jobim-independent/

There was never a liner note for this album, and very often people question me about my unapologetic musical choices interpreting bossa nova. Well, as a composer myself, I would love to see people play my compositions however way they think it sounds and expresses their experience best by creating versions / arrangements that give a breath of freshness to the music. I am a true believer that Antonio Carlos Jobim might have shared the same views. I hope this short write up can aid your listening experience of JOBIM.

Best,

GPS

Geovane Santos, an Afro Brazilian from Belo Horizonte currently living in New Orleans, is a guitarist, vocalist, composer, researcher, videographer, and educator.

Awarded the 2017 Louis Armstrong Foundation Jazz Composer Award, Santos’ creative work and scholarship explore the intersectionalities of race, transculturation, culture appropriation, and processes of narrative building in music.

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