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| "Hey, Tom, my name is Luiz Roberto; you don't know me personally but there's a tune of mine that you know." | "Call him, Luiz! He's really cool. He likes 'Tristeza de Amar', he plays it on the piano. I'm sure he'd also like to get to know you." | I had to conquer my shyness. Pick up the phone, dial the number, and then deal with that voice at the other end of the line: the voice of a musician I admired so much. What to say to him? Talking about my song "Tristeza de Amar" (Sad about Loving), which I'd composed with Geraldo Vandré, would be a good enough pretext. It had already been recorded a few times, and lots of musicians liked it. They kept asking me, "Luiz -- play that tune of yours". |
| I hummed a little bit of it. "Ah, you're the Luiz Roberto who wrote that music! It's beautiful, it really is." |
I think the person who first told me about him was Carlos Lyra. I was at
my guitar lesson, seated at the dining room table in his small apartment in
Copacabana. "There's this guy named Tom. His piano-playing is different, his chords are incredible, the music is beautiful. And he's the king of good taste -- he plays very few notes, but each one is in just the right place." |
| "That's right, Tom. I play guitar, I like to compose. I was born in Rio and now I'm living in São Paulo, but once in a while I get to spend the weekend there -- just to hang out on the beach." |
I'm not sure which was the first tune of his that I heard. But among my
first impressions, I recall "Foi a Noite" (It Was at Night) -- on that
album that I just couldn't stop playing, "Carícia" (Caress), with Silvinha
Telles. It also had "Por Causa de Você" (Because of You), with Tom doing an unforgettable intro that I would play over and over on the guitar for hours on end. |
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Não posso esquecer O teu olhar Longe dos olhos meus (Vinicius) | "Black Orpheus" was another one I heard around that time. Those sambas still had a batucada style, but they presaged something that was to come, and they fascinated me even then. |
During a lesson, Carlos Lyra told me: "You need to hear this guy from Bahia who's just showed up around here, he plays a different kind of samba on the guitar, the harmonies are simple but really well done. His name is João Gilberto. People are gonna be hearing his name before long." |
 Daniel Jobim, the composer's grandson |
Who knows Maybe I'll come back again In a sunbeam Or in a raindrop That falls in the morning... (Billy Blanco) |
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One day Roberto Menescal came up to me: "I met Tom! He's a fantastic guy! We went to a bar, had a beer and just talked. Talked all about music, he really got me going." "Tom has a restrained technique, he never plays a false note and he's very sparing with the chords." |
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"So next time you come to Rio, call me and drop by for a visit." The next Sunday morning I called him: "I'm right nearby, on the Barão da Torre." "We're on the same street! Get over here now!" It was a small two-story house with plants in front. I dawdled for a while at the front gate, then finally screwed up my courage and rang the bell. I remember those moments of waiting, in that tranquil neighborhood that was Ipanema in those days, and then the door on the veranda opening slowly, and Tom inviting me in. |
Luiz Roberto Oliveira is a musician and director of the music production house Norte Magnetico.
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