JAZZ REVIEW : Accent’s on <i> Coraca~o </i> in Tribute to Jobim

Antonio Carlos Jobim would have had a word to describe the tribute to his music and his memory at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday night.

Coraca~o. Heart.

It was an evening of music written from the heart, and performed from the heart--which is, without question, the only way to portray the songs of the remarkable Brazilian composer, who died last December at age 67.

Sadly, Jobim’s old pal, Joao Gilberto, originally scheduled to headline the bill, didn’t make it. But Ivan Lins did. And so did Gal Costa, the Boca Livre quartet and Oscar Castro-Neves.

Herbie Hancock and Joe Henderson were there as well, happy to underline their affection for Brazilian music in general and Jobim’s music in particular. Appropriately, however, it was the Brazilian artists, energized by the pulsating coraca~o of Castro-Neves’ guitar, who brought the program to life.

And, fascinating as it would have been to hear Gilberto--perhaps Jobim’s most famous interpreter--the music, once Castro-Neves began to strum his irresistible samba rhythms, clearly lacked nothing for the spirited crowd of 14,385.

There was an especially poignant moment near the opening of the concert in which Paul and Daniel Jobim, the composer’s son and grandson, respectively, came on to play and sing a collection of Jobim tunes. Most poignant of all was Daniel’s light and airy English rendering of “Aguas de Marco” (The Waters of March), a song that Jobim considered one of his best.

After Boca Livre--a group that sometimes sounded like the Four Freshmen singing bossa nova--offered its own take on Jobim, the concert’s first half closed with tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson. Although he appeared to be a bit out of sorts on his first number, Henderson was soon in fine fettle, bringing his characteristic blend of lyricism and rhythm to a few tunes from “Double Rainbow,” his current album of Jobim material.

But the program hit its stride after the intermission, initially with a surprise guest appearance by trumpeter Terence Blanchard, who played “One Note Samba” and “Girl From Ipanema,” and later with the arrival of composer-singer Lins. Elegant in a white suit, Lins sang with a soaring, lyric passion that provided a perfect aural illustration for the large photograph of Jobim that hung above the stage. Lins has a thorough familiarity with jazz phrasing and jazz harmony, and his vocals, like Jobim’s, overflowed with seductive melodic variations on songs such as “Corcovado” and “Triste.”

Hancock, added after Gilberto’s cancellation, brought enthusiasm and fondness for Jobim, but his playing was missing both the rhythmic momentum and the innate sense of saudade (longing, sadness) so vital to the music.

There were no such lacking in the work of Costa, a major Brazilian star for more than two decades and a singer whose dark, sensual voice is the perfect instrument for the full gamut of Jobim’s driving rhythms, complex melodies and lush harmonies. Her generous program, which included some of the tunes heard earlier as well as “Dindi,” “Insensatez” and “Wave,” brought a final touch of coraca~o to an evening filled with life-affirming music.