Morelenbaum²/Sakamoto Invite You into the Home of Legendary Brazilian Composer Antonio Carlos Jobim
with Their US Tour and CD Release: Casa

This fall, Morelenbaum²/Sakamoto hits the road in the US in an effort to share the magic they experienced when recording their debut release Casa, a collection of hidden gems written by Antonio Carlos Jobim. Casa will be released August 20th on Sony Classical. The upcoming dates mark the third leg of the group's successful world tour, following sold-out shows in Brazil and Japan. The release of Casa in Japan and Brazil has already resulted in Sakamoto receiving the official decoration "Ordem de Rio Branco, Cavaleiro" for exceptional merit from the government of Brazil.

Recorded in the bewitching atmosphere of Antonio Carlos Jobim's home overlooking Rio de Janeiro, Casa introduces an exciting new collaboration - the trio Morelenbaum/Sakamoto - in a revealing new collection of the music of Jobim, the master of Brazilian bossa nova. Academy and Grammy award-winning pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto joins cellist Jaques Morelenbaum and singer Paula Morelenbaum - both long associated with Jobim and his music, and former members of his "Banda Nova." The trio will be joined by Luiz Brasil on violao, and percussionist Marcelo Costa during the tour.

The use of Jobim's home as a studio offered Sakamoto the opportunity to play Jobim's own piano on every track of Casa. The recording venue even became a part of the very sound of Casa. Birdsongs and the chirp of crickets were heard through the open windows of the house while the trio made the recording, and the sounds of the waves and the beach scene at Leblon have been incorporated into the final mix of several tracks. The magical atmosphere was not lost on Sakamoto, "As I finished my piano solo during the recording of the first track, the sharp sound of a bird calling came through the open window, and it was exactly as if Jobim was laughingly saying to me, ironically, 'Hey, Sakamoto, that's my piano. Play it tenderly.' When Paula Morelenbaum told this story to Jobim's widow, Ana, in New York, she got goose bumps. During this tour, I hope we can recreate this atmosphere so the audience can feel exactly what this whole experience was like for us."

LINK:US & Europe Tour Dates - Fall 2002

RECORDED IN THE ATMOSPHERIC RIO DE JANEIRO HOME
OF COMPOSER ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM, SONY CLASSICAL'S CASA INTRODUCES MORELENBAUM²/SAKAMOTO,
A NEW COLLABORATION OF PIANIST RYUICHI SAKAMOTO WITH BRAZIL'S JAQUES & PAULA MORELENBAUM
CD RELEASED ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2002

Casa Includes First Recording Of Hidden Treasures
From Jobim's Song Catalogue And Music Never Before Recorded

Morelenbaum²/Sakamoto To Tour U.S. September 3-13

New York NY June 14, 2002 - Recorded in the bewitching atmosphere of Antonio Carlos Jobim's home overlooking Rio de Janeiro, Sony Classical's Casa introduces an exciting new collaboration - the trio Morelenbaum²/Sakamoto - in a revealing new collection of the music of Jobim, the master of Brazilian bossa nova. Pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto joins cellist Jaques Morelenbaum and singer Paula Morelenbaum - both long associated with Jobim and his music - on the recording, with a guest appearance by Jobim's son Paulo. Casa will be released on Tuesday, August 20, 2002.

Sakamoto plays Jobim's own piano on every track of Casa, recorded in the composer's Rio home, with its inspiring views of Corcovado and Lagoa. The recording venue became a part of the very sound of Casa. Birdsongs and the chirp of crickets were heard through the open windows of the house while the trio made the recording, and the sounds of the waves and the beach scene at Leblon have been incorporated into the final mix of several tracks.

Joining Sakamoto are the Morelenbaums, who performed and recorded extensively with Jobim in his last decade. The 17 tracks of Casa explore hidden treasures from the Jobim song catalogue and introduce music by Jobim that has never before been recorded. After accompanying the recording's release in Brazil and Japan with sold-out concerts, Sakamoto and the Morelenbaums will follow up the international release of Casa with a worldwide tour that will include U.S. performances September 3-13.

Recording Casa in Jobim's home added an intensely personal quality to the music making, which features the first professional recording of "Tema para Ana," a love song Jobim wrote for his wife Ana. International audiences will discover the rarely heard "Chanson pour Michelle" - dedicated to Michel Legrand - written by Jobim for the soundtrack of a TV soap opera and previously available only on a rare vinyl LP. Paulo Jobim suggested the song to the trio, as well as a new version of the standard "Esperanca Perdida" that features a different introduction. Sakamoto's affinity for both Jobim and French impressionism picks up echoes of Satie in "Imagina," Ravel in "Estrada Branca" and, reaching further back, Chopin in "Sabia." "Bonita" inspires a true bossa nova arrangement, with a guest appearance by Paulo Jobim and the atmospheric touch of Sakamoto's own DAT recording of ocean waves and beach sounds.

Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-94), fondly known in his homeland as Tom, became - with the guitarist Joao Gilberto - the defining figure in the bossa nova movement that transformed Brazilian music and became an international sensation in the 1960s. A tireless songwriter, Jobim turned out such hits as "The Girl from Ipanema," "Desafinado," "Meditation," "Corcovado," "The Waters of March" and many more which transcended the bossa nova craze and became enduring classics. Like Jobim, Sakamoto is a classically trained musician with an affinity for French impressionist music. Jaques Morelenbaum - a cellist and composer who is also one of Brazil's premiere arrangers and record producers - had collaborated with Sakamoto on three original albums and several world tours during the 1990s.

"Sakamoto's musicality felt so close to that of the maestro, and this fact deeply impressed me," said Luciana de Moraes, the daughter of Jobim's legendary collaborator Vinicius de Moraes, when she heard Casa. "I might say that I had never heard such a close translation of the maestro's melodies, and I had the privilege of listening to Tom playing many times at my grandma's place when I was a child. What I liked most about this CD - besides the harmonic perfection, the repertoire and the interpretation - was that familiar atmosphere that takes us back to one of those evenings at Tom's house, when we talked about love, music and poetry, while in the background the most perfect Brazilian songs filled the night air. As my father wisely said in one of his lyrics, celebrating Brazilian composers, 'we are one family, an island made of love.' Welcome to it, maestro Sakamoto."

Morelenbaum²/Sakamoto's Casa, celebrating the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, will be featured at www.ryuichi-sakamoto.com or through Sony Classical's Web site at www.sonyclassical.com. The site will include album art, track listings, sound clips, multimedia features and more. Sony Classical's Web site is an online resource for exploring the label's entire catalogue of recordings, features an online radio show, album supersites, multimedia, artist biographies, tour schedules and discographies for all Sony Classical artists, as well as special promotions, and much more.