Persona Music

Albums

Examples of  Persona Recordings playable online are offered as music history, music appreciation, education and demonstrations of Persona Studio's arranging, recording and mastering techniques. All the recordings are completed in house by Stephen Gislason. The music selections and their history are described in the book, Sound of Music.

Tom Jobim and João Gilberto

Antonio Carlos (Tom) Jobim was a Brazilian songwriter, composer, singer, and pianist/guitarist. Jobim is celebrated in Brazil and acknowledged elsewhere as one of the most popular composers of the 20th century.  In partnership with Vinicius de Moraes, Newton Mendonça, and other collaborators, Jobim created the most famous and enduring bossa nova standards, such as “Garota de Ipanema,” “Desafinado,” and “Corcovado.” In 1957, Carlos Jobim and Newton Mendonca released the album Desafinado, featuring this new style of samba, incorporating it with jazz motifs and poetic lyrics sung by João Gilberto.

In 1958, Jobim and Luis Bonfa wrote the soundtrack to the great motion picture Black Orpheus,based on the Orpheus-Eurydice legend  recast  in Brazil and the Rio de Janeiro Carnival.  I recall the movie as one of startling revelations of my medical school days. I could hardly stand the death of the beautiful Eurydice and that I too was Orpheus  in despair.

João Gilberto performed Jobim's songs and is considered the co-creator of  the bossa nova style. In 1961, Charlie Byrd was playing a jazz tour of Latin America and discovered Gilberto and  Tom Jobim. On his return to the US, he played João’s records for saxophonist friend, Stan Getz, and Latin music came to America. Getz and Byrd’ recorded Jazz Samba in 1962 which  spent 70 weeks on the pop charts. Later, Getz recorded four more Getz bossa nova albums, including the Getz/Gilberto album in 1964 with João, his wife, Astrud, and Tom Jobim.  A hit song “The Girl of Ipanema” remains popular today. It was the debut of Astrud Gilberto who had never before performed professionally. Astrud remained in the US, continuing  with a successful music career after divorcing João in 1965. 

I have arranged  and recorded:

How Insensitive 
The Gentle Rain
Black Orpheus

See Latin American Music

Persona Music Recordings  Our Music Catalogue includes recorded performances by the P2500 Band, Em4U, and the Persona Classical Consort. Music downloads are delivered from our companion website: Persona Digital Online. Music Downloads are albums, packaged as MP3 files in a zip folder. Download  the zip folder and save.  In Windows, click on the folder and choose the extract all option to unzip the files to your hard drive. A new folder containing the MP3 files will be created. The MP3 files will play on all computers, laptops, notebooks, smart phones, iPods,. iPads, CD and DVD players and all portable music players. Some albums contain liner notes or minibooks as PDF files that introduce the music. Some music recordings and Free Music Downloads are offered to illustrate music history, advance music  education and appreciation. The recordings presented online demonstrate Persona Studio's arranging, recording and mastering techniques. All the recordings are completed in house by Stephen Gislason. The music selections and their history are explained in the book, Sound of Music. More About Downloads.

Persona Digital Studio is located on the Sunshine Coast, Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada.
 www.personadigitalstudio.com  email  music@personadigitalstudio.com.
Our Music Catalogue includes recorded performances by the P2500 Band, Em4U, and the Persona Classical Consort. Music downloads and books are available from our companion website: Persona Digital Online.