Antonio's Song

phote: Claudia Franks

Meeting Antonio Carlos Jobim and spending time with him in New York and Rio was one of the peak experiences of my musical life. Among other things in this episode, Veronica and I discuss how he invited me down to Rio to record some of the songs on “Sleeping Gypsy,” and what an inspiration it was for me just to get to know him. Whenever I was around Jobim I always felt like I was reclined at the feet of a Master. His songwriting genius and the lasting beauty of his canon of compositions is, in my view, kind of unparalleled.

I started to write “Antonio’s Song” a few days after I met him in New York in the Fall of 1975. He godfathered our visit to Rio the following year and suggested a recording studio and musicians we might use. I was also a fan of Joao Donato, another great songwriter, and he joined us in the studio too.

I want to dedicate this episode to lifelong friends I met as a sophomore at UCLA (shortly after the Invention of the Wheel), Jackie and Richard Derwingson. Richard taught me how to play “The Girl from Ipanema.”