Elis Regina & Antonio Carlos Jobim
Elis & Tom (Verve 824 418)

Though some duet albums are surprisingly good, most of them are disappointingly bad, and few are amazingly great. Damn! I used up most of my adverbs in the first sentence. How miserably terrible! Damn! There I go again, recklessly using more of my carefully-constructed, precious adverbs. Damn! There I go again!

Okay, then. Elis & Tom is a 1974 studio offering from Antonio Carlos Jobim (Brasil's greatest songwriter) and Elis Regina (arguably Brasil's greatest voice).

The result of the pairing is predictably wonderful, featuring primarily Regina solo vocals over Jobim arrangements of his songs. The disc opens with the awesome "Aguas de Marco," a definitive version that hasn't been even closely approached by other recordings, the playfulness of Regina and Jobim coming through even despite the fact that they're singing utter gibberish. What? Oh, it's Portuguese. Same thing.

The song is amazing, very light and buoyant and is easily my favorite Jobim song simply for the greatness of this version. A slight disappointment lies in the fact that none of the remaining tracks captures this special magic, which is akin to the great playful duets of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, but with a greater percentage of gibberish. Oh, excuse me: "Portuguese."

The songs are primarily slow, brooding, and melancholic, at times a bit turgid but so utterly classy throughout that the album is always a pleasure to hear, even though it may prompt already-depressed listeners to reach for the sleeping pills. "Triste" is given a beautiful reading, as are "Retrato em Branco e Preto" (Picture in Black and White) and "Inutil Paisagem" (Useless Landscape), all very sad songs well served by the tasteful orchestrations (especially the strings and pianos).

None of the tracks is less than good, and most are excellent ("Chovendo na Roseira" and a great "Corcovado" are other high points – "Corcovado" somehow managing to stay fresh in spite of it being the four millionth recording of the song). Jobim sings on a minority of the tracks, but the blend of his amateur's voice with Regina's professional-singer voice is perfect, his voice a bit gruff and shaky, hers bright and strong. He comes off as a paternal influence, musically and emotionally.

The disc is one of the best testament's to Jobim's stature as one of the great composers of the century. Sinatra's Jobim album has more polish and a bit more weight but Elis & Tom is more authentic, reflecting the playful nature of Jobim as well as his contemplative side. It's also one of the better offerings from Elis Regina, whose voice is in prime form here.

My quibble with the record is that it's so downbeat throughout that I find myself returning to it less frequently than other similar albums, like Elis's 70s solo albums or the Jobim Verve Jazz Masters collection (which features a few tracks from this album) – just for more diversity of mood.

Still, Elis & Tom is undoubtedly a classic of Brasilian pop music, its American equivalents being the Sinatra/Jobim album and maybe the Linda Ronstadt standards albums. Great rainy-day or grey-Sunday sort of music.

Like most duet recordings (Diana & Marvin comes to mind) this one is slightly less than the sum of its parts but nevertheless highly recommended to anyone remotely interested in either party involved. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the "Wheel of Fortune" outlet store and buy more adverbs.

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by Cuntt