**** Antonio Carlos Jobim

COMPOSER

(Warner Bros. Archives)

Unquestionably one of the great songwriters of our fading century, "Tom" Jobim, like Cole Porter, fused lyric and melody inseparably. He sang passably, but with supreme understanding, in a warm, cheroot baritone, and he played thoughtful piano and spidery guitar. Samba was in his blood; he fashioned bossa nova on a hunch, loved jazz, and provided -- in hundreds of compositions -- buoyant vehicles for improvisation.

Composer is far and away the best of three current Warner Archives reissues. Its 28 tracks combine material from three sessions, spanning 1965 to '67. The songs are among his finest, and Claus Ogerman has a light hand on the arrangements. Jobim is in good voice, showing his feel for everyday people and events. His melodies can sound like a Satie sonatina ("Valse de Porto de Caixas") or a tin-pan-alley tango ("Hurry Up and Love Me"), but here he's at his best cruising Rio de Janeiro beaches like Corcovado with Bonita, Carioca, Dindi, Surfboard, Desafinado, and, yes, that iconic girl from Ipanema. Bob Blumenthal's notes accompany each disc. Would that Warner had also included the lyrics in these half-vocal sets -- at least English, perhaps Portuguese, too -- of Jobim's bracing New World songs.

-- Fred Bouchard