It's a well structured album too - four songs with vocals, then four instrumental mood pieces making up the old side one/side two split. Even at the outset of the song half, there's no obvious hook to draw you in or sumptuous flourish, just 40 seconds of solo berimbau scraping away before the twilit arrangements usher in Jobim and Miúcha's duet about an anthropomorphic trip through the tropics. This is followed by three wonderful romantic songs which made me think of similar era Serge Gainsbourg, if only production-wise in Jobim's close-miked, instantly recognisable voice and the dense, languid orchestration.
The old Side 2, the instrumental suite, is the real prize here though. There's that famously untranslatable word in the first title - saudade - that indicates right away that this piece is going to be Jobim's most ambitious tribute yet to his home nation, and it's a masterpiece. Saudade Do Brasil, and in fact all of the three tracks to follow, sound as if they're superior soundtrack music to a documentary film - one that takes in Brazilian history, society and culture in a breathtaking sweep. Musically, it's endlessly rewarding on repeated listens - I'm currently marveling afresh at the way the flutes lead the journey through the eight-minute Arquitetura De Morar. Hugely recommended.
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