Musicians naturally flock to other artists with similar tastes and abilities. This seems like a natural human instinct – we all have individual interests and experience levels and we want those things to be recognized. Although it feels good to be acknowledged by just about anybody, knowing that someone shares a common background means something different. This type of company allows you to explore your passions in-depth and know that you’ll be understood. Beyond that, it allows for another musician to offer something challenging and meaningful into the process. This artistic give and take leads to a musical growth; yet a focused and quick musical growth that you’ll always find behind any musical legend.

For the musician looking to delve deeper into a style, it’s a good idea to start with a legend and then find the musicians that team with this legend. Great musicians arise out of their collaborations and again, the artists that become partners with these musicians contribute to their success. Find an album by your favorite artist and see who else plays on that recording. Then do a search for those other musicians and you’re likely to find a flood of additional recordings. Once you listen to those recordings, you’re most likely going to find more music that interests you. You’ll gain a deeper insight into the style by hearing a different approach, and you’ll get further insight into the elements that originally inspired your favorite artist. Then look at the additional musicians on the new album and search for their names – you’ll find even more recordings! It’s a wonderfully endless process.

Antonio Carlos Jobim worked with many of Brazil’s important musicians throughout his career, and then even more artists recorded his songs. The videos below display some of Jobim’s more famous collaborators – guitarist and vocalist João Gilberto, guitarist Toquinho, and vocalist Elis Regina. Each one of these musicians has contributed greatly to Brazilian music; before and after Jobim. In themselves, they provide fantastic starting points for a journey through Bossa Nova and Brazilian jazz. Take the opportunity to follow the paths these musicians left for us – their songs, their musical partners, and their followers. Every legendary starting point can take us on an incredible journey through a world of fantastic music. Hopefully these Jobim videos will help start a journey through Brazilian music for you; let me know what you find!

Jobim & João Gilberto – Desafinado

Jobim & Toquinho – Wave

Jobim & Elis Regina – Aguas de Marco