O ouvidor do Brasil: 99 vezes Tom Jobim

O ouvidor do Brasil: 99 vezes Tom Jobim is a collection of short pieces by Ruy Castro about the master of bossa nova. There are nearly a hundred brief texts, each with its own angle on Tom Jobim: a song, a meeting, a backstage story.

Ruy Castro knows the subject like few others. He wrote Chega de Saudade, the book on the history of bossa nova, and here he goes back to 1950s and 60s Rio, with the musicians, bars, studios and characters who made that scene. The book brings previously unpublished facts and stories that had never appeared in print.

The thread tying it all together is Jobim's bond with Brazil. The title plays on that: Jobim was an attentive ear for the country, its music, its people and its nature. One point the book highlights is his concern for the environment, at a time when few people talked about it.

You can read it straight through or open it anywhere, like picking a track on a record.