In Great Company With Jobim

What gives the music of Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim its universal appeal? Melodic beauty, emotional content and understated sophistication--those qualities were the focus of the Great American Music Co.’s “The Romantic Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim” concert Monday night at De Mario’s Restaurant in Dana Point. (The show repeats Monday and April 19.)

Group leader and bassist Jack Prather has arranged a dozen such tributes through the years. He knows how to find the essence of his subject’s work and present it in entertaining and informative fashion. On Monday, Prather’s running narrative, read by him and members of the company, created the feel of cabaret while adding meaning to the music.

The setup was simple. Singers Stephanie Haynes and Dewey Erney, backed by a piano trio, gave svelte treatment to Jobim’s best known music and the infrequent Prather original. Both at times sang in Jobim’s native Portuguese. Both understood the patience and understatement Jobim’s songs require.

Jobim’s music is not easy to sing. Frequent chord changes and half-step progressions require careful attention to pitch, and Haynes and Erney were up to the challenge. They were often required to hit a particularly unexpected note ahead of the band, with the piano verifying the vocalist’s pitch a split-second later.

Haynes was relaxed and fluid singing Gene Lee’s lyric to “Quiet Nights,” gracing it with equal parts warmth and dignity. Erney excelled on slightly sad ballads, notably “Triste” and “Dindi.”

Pianist Karen Hammack served as principal instrumentalist, guiding the vocalists through offbeat melodies and soloing with certain, punctual abandon. She used a variety of sounds from her electric keyboard, most frequently acoustic piano, plus guitar chords in the manner of Jobim collaborator Joa~o Gilberto.

Drummer David Derge, challenged with a variety of dance and straight-ahead rhythms, matched the singers’ tone and feel. He worked slow and fast sambas, ballads and jazz beats with equal taste.

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Prather added slippery play in accompaniment and lyrically ambitious solos. He sang his clever original “Take Me to Jobim” with the spirit that only a song’s lyricist can generate.

Prather’s insight into Jobim’s vision and fascinating account of his rise to prominence gave the evening a story line. He called Jobim “a shy, retiring poet from Brazil” and drew a connection between the “architecture” of Jobim’s music and the year Jobim spent studying architecture.

Prather emphasized music from the groundbreaking theatrical version of “Black Orpheus” and the subsequent movie. He relayed to the audience Jobim’s answer to the sadness associated with his music: “Only people without soul don’t know sadness.”

The group was at its best when both vocalists sang, as on “Waters of March,” on which they performed a difficult litany of poetic phrases in unison as the trio simmered behind them. Prather introduced the piece by saying it was Jobim’s answer to life, adding the story of a listener who was contemplating suicide but whose mind was changed after hearing the song’s lyric. Indeed, Jobim’s music, as presented by the Great American Music Co., is reason to live.

* “The Romantic Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim,” with the Great American Music Co., repeats Monday and April 19, 7 p.m. at De Mario’s Restaurant, 17 Monarch Bay Plaza, Dana Point. $10 cover, $10 food and drink minimum. (949) 240-9436.