A sumptuous album of bossanova delicacy and smoothness.

Even the swinging 6/8 feel of the track “Mojave” is underpinned with a lovely bossa rhythm and transports you to a beach bar , somewhere from the Amalfi Coast to Copacabana Beach.

“Dialogo” takes the pace down to a reflective conversation with strings and a  muted trumpet carrying the top line melody.

There are few vocals and the ones that there are offer an understated presence and complement the other instruments eg. “Lamento”.

As a result the language becomes less important as its the emotion in the singing that count.

All songs were composed by Jobim - mostly you can hear the guitar sketching the arrangement with the strings- and even harpsichord fleshing out the tunes.

The sonorous effect of multiple flutes add to an ethereal vibe.

The overall effect is a triumph and really is a well deserved benchmark for a good starting point for 60’s bossanova.

There is no doubt records like this influenced the rock drummers and other musicians of the time - John Densmore of the Doors has acknowledged this - just listen to their 1967 hit “Break On Through” to hear it.