Everybody seems to be in agreement, so we can skip the part about how great this album is. Let's take a look at how this recording stands in relation to the development of Jobim's music and the whole bossa craze.

Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd initiated that craze in the U.S. with the release of "Desafinado" in the summer of 1962. To capitalize on this, Jobim arrived in the U.S. for the first time toward the end of the year. He recorded "The Composer Plays" in May, 1963 in NYC. Before all this, though, the 36 year-old Jobim had co-protagonized the full cycle of Brazil's bossa nova revolution and subsequent counter-revolutions in his native Rio. The oldest songs on this record were by then six years old. Nearly all were already full-fledged Brazilian standards. Even "Girl from Ipanema," which only debuted in the spring of 1962 with the mark of an instant classic, had already been played to death. This recording then, made 6,000 miles from the maelstrom of Rio and its by then inbred bossa scene, was a chance for Jobim to reclaim his music.

What claim then, did Jobim make? Bossa is often described as a marriage of the samba rhythm to the cool jazz aesthetic. No bossa recording demonstrates that better than this one. Melodically, Jobim coulnd't have played it any "cooler." Melody is front and center, played on the piano -- one finger most of the time -- or sometimes shared out to the alto flute or trombone. Though Jobim was immersed in jazz in the U.S., there is hardly a lick of improvisation. The solos are carefully constructed and played simply as alternate melody lines. The marvelous Claus Ogerman string arrangements -- amazingly spare and lush at the same time and added like dashes of color -- are used to highlight Jobim's harmonics.

Rythmically, Jobim pays direct homage to samba in its purest form. For me the hero of this record is the drummer, uncredited as far as I can tell. Right out front in the mix, but restrained at the same time, he perfectly reproduces the rhythms of the samba tambourine, the focus of samba rhythm. (A digression: the drummer here plays the signature bossa syncopated beat on the snare rim and straight eighths on the high hat. A skilled "sambista" does the eighths with the rattles of the tambourine and the syncopated beat with his hand on the head. If you don't think that's hard, try it sometime.) The bass player, also uncredited, plays a simple root on the downbeats, mimicking the part of the sole bass drum in a samba "conjunto." The acoustic bossa guitar, Joao Gilberto's invention, is also there, lighty strumming counterpoint to the drums. This sublime rhythm arrangement is a constant on the entire record.

So, we've got hot rhythms and cool stylings: this alone would have made the record great. What puts it in the all-time-great category are the songs themselves. Jobim is without doubt one of the great song writers of all time. It's a shame that Jobim sometimes gets lumped in with the Bachrach crowd. How many Bachrach tunes are jazz standards? (This may be due to the fact that in general, the English versions of Jobim's songs are poor. Desafinado in English is execrable, in Portugese it's probably the best lyric ever put to a Jobim tune.)

Shortly after this record, Jobim participated in the first of the Getz/Gilberto collaborations, and he would relive the arc of fame and fortune internationally that he had already gone through in Brazil. Thus, "The Composer Plays" catches Jobim during a calm interlude in his otherwise meteoric career, at a time when he had the time and perspective to put down on record his most considered personal statement of what his music was all about -- bossa that is simple yet sophisticated and elegant, never overshadowing his gorgeous melodies.

It was 1975. Medical school -- interminable hours buried in the belly of the library, surrounded by dry books and drier company. It couldn't help but suck the cool right out of you. And then, like a fresh Brazilian breeze off the Atlantic, I heard these so sweet melodies flowing from my room mate's stereo. I was hooked instantly. These tunes are so phenominally beautiful that your mellowness meter and cool quotient will zoom. By the end of "Desafinado," you'll wish it were 1960 so Bossa Nova could start all over again.

I picked up "The Composer Of Desafinado Plays" out of curiosity, and I'm extremely glad I did. Once you hear this album it will become an essential part of your life. Every song is a classic, and the musicianship is second to none. Verve gets extra points for doing such an excellent job remastering this CD(like Getz/Gilberto)it makes the higher price actually worth paying over the previous CD issue. This is the one that set the standard for great Brazilian Jazz.

Yes, all prior reviews are true and the historical context

is accurate. Bossa Nova was revolutionary and Jobim a genius

and I hope he is inducted into the Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame soon, as one of the most brilliant of all composers of the 20th century. This CD is essential for all of us who love Bossa Nova and know it well. A word of caution, however, for our younger music lovers. Do not mischaracterize Bossa Nova based on this CD. This orchestratral approach became the basis for much/all of Muzak. And like so much of radical brilliance, became cliche'd. Every businessman who has travelled has also heard these arrangements in Holiday Inn bars all over the US, listen to "Girl from Ipanema" and mourn the passage of time. Some of the beautiful flute "improvisations", actually simple harmonies, are the basis for some of the most bland smooth so-called jazz today. Make sure you also explore CDs that are as impactful in simplicity today as in the 60s, so far truly timeless...An updated context.

One of the best albums of all time. It fits in the "Desert Island" category. Jobim plays with artless simplicity, backed by subtle strings and percussion that's superlative. I've listened to and loved this album for over 40 years and never tired of it.