Statue of Tom Jobim

The importance of Tom Jobim to Brazilian culture seems immeasurable. It is undoubtedly immense. One of the founding fathers of bossa nova, Antônio Carlos Brasileiro Jobim shaped the musical imagination of the entire country and remains one of the most revered Brazilian musicians abroad. With an unmistakable playing style, he recorded with legendary artists of both Brazilian and international music, such as Elis Regina and Frank Sinatra. One of the most performed songs in history, ´The Girl from Ipanema´, was written by Tom Jobim with his great collaborator, Vinícius de Moraes. The song has been covered hundreds of times, by artists ranging from Amy Winehouse to Chitãozinho & Xororó. 

Rio de Janeiro, besides being the musician’s birthplace, was crucial to the work of Tom Jobim. The city, particularly the southern region, was a wellspring of inspiration for Jobim’s sound, serving both as the setting and a character in his songs. Its streets and neighborhoods, bars, and the people who move through the city are vividly present in his compositions, as are the natural landscapes, another constant theme in his music. Ultimately, Jobim seemed to both translate and invent a soundscape for the sunny, urban lifestyle so central to the Carioca identity.

In a 1965 interview with O Globo, Jobim was clear: “The best place to sell music may be the United States but the best place to compose is Rio, where we chat with our friends, the atmosphere is right for the guitar, and we have the beach.”

Tom Jobim in his house in rua Barão da Torre, Ipanema. Antônio Trindade, 1960. Instituto Antônio Carlos Jobim Collection

Tom Jobim sang of Rio with the symphonies and delicate melodies that are typical of bossa nova, as if he were making a declaration of love. From the inferninhos (as the small nightclubs of Rio´s southern region were known) to the beaches of Leblon, Copacabana, and especially Ipanema, Tom Jobim translated the city into music. When Jobim, became increasingly well-known overseas and moved to New York, his relationship with Rio took on an added layer of longing. Perhaps the greatest of Jobim’s love letters to the city is his Samba do Avião (Airplane Samba), in which he declares: “My soul sings/I can see Rio de Janeiro/I yearn for Rio/Your sea, your endless beaches/Rio, you were made for me.” Tom Jobim and Rio de Janeiro really were made for each other.

For that very reason, there was no better place to immortalize the composer. Since December 8, 2014, anyone strolling along the Ipanema waterfront, near Arpoador, will come across a life-sized statue of Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim. The location where the musician, composer, singer, arranger, and conductor was immortalized couldn’t be more fitting, given his deep connection to the southern coastline of the city.

The inauguration date commemorated the 20th anniversary of the composer’s death on December 8, 1994. In fact, it’s not hard to imagine Jobim himself walking here, guitar in hand, going from one jam session to another, at the time of the bossa nova music festivals that emerged in that part of the city.

Tom Jobim and Vinícius de Morais em Brasília. Jader Neves, 1960. Instituto Antônio Carlos Jobim Collection

The statue is made of bronze, weighs about 200 kg, and took approximately four months to complete. The process involved several stages, including crafting the wire mold, applying the bronze, and adding the final hand-painted touches for enhanced detail. The artist, Cristina Motta from São Paulo, is known for her bronze sculptures scattered throughout the town of Búzios, including the statue of French actress Brigitte Bardot.

Cristina Motta chose a photograph taken in 1960 by Jader Neves, showing Tom Jobim and his collaborator Vinícius de Moraes walking side by side along a dirt road lined with cerrado vegetation in the still-under-construction Brasília. The musicians were visiting the city before its inauguration to present Brasília, Sinfonia da Alvorada, a composition commissioned by President Juscelino Kubitschek. The photograph served as a reference for Motta to capture Jobim’s pose, expression, clothing, and even the guitar propped on his shoulder.

The unveiling of the statue was attended by family members, including Tom Jobim’s widow, Ana Jobim, and his children, Maria Luiza and Paulo Jobim, as well as the sextet Terra Brasilis. The Secretary of Tourism, Antonio Pedro Figueira de Melo, led the inauguration ceremony and emphasized the significance of the tribute. The journalist Sérgio Cabral, who wrote Tom Jobim’s biography, was also there.

Reproduction/X

The unveiling wasn’t the only time musicians have gathered around the statue to perform live. Often, especially on sunny weekends, people bring pianos, drums, guitars, and saxophones out onto the street, and pay tribute to the illustrious composer around the statue. It is a meeting point that creates an emotional and musical connection between the musician’s memory and the people of the city.