When I was young, I lived in a small town across the bay from Niterói. When I was about 14, one of my friends called me to his house and said, “You have to listen to this!” And he played me “Take Five”, and in that moment I just said, “Wow, that was amazing!” It was such a wonderful surprise to me, because that was the first time that I’d ever heard jazz. I was so used to listening to Brazilian music and classical music, and then all of a sudden came that wonderful song.

I was really taken by the uniqueness of that particular sound. Following that experience, me and my friends got together once a week and listened to other jazz records, and that’s how I initiated my love for jazz. We listened to so many, and it was very hard in those days to get hold of records from the United States because they didn’t sell them in Brazil, so when we finally got the opportunity to listen to them, it was really an adventure.

I met Horace when I came to do the Carnegie Hall show in 1962, and he was one of my idols – I had listened to his records in Brazil. I met him at my friend’s house, and immediately I thought he was an amazing person and an even more unique piano player. I would say that up until then, no one had a style like him and nobody played like him.

When I first met him, he said he would love to come to Brazil to visit, so I invited him. I just had this small apartment, and he came and spent over a week with me. It was absolutely beautiful having him in my house every day, going to the piano with him and watching him play. I have a really lovely picture with him that I’ve kept all these years. He was such a dear friend and an amazing pianist. When I was in Brazil ‘66 we used to play “Song For My Father”, and I was lucky to have learned it from him.

I have an interesting story about this song… I was with Jobim one day, and he said to me, “Sérgio, I just bought ten English dictionaries.” I said, “What! Ten dictionaries - why?” He said to me, “Well, I decided to write the lyrics in English.”

It’s very difficult to write lyrics, and as a composer, I always have somebody writing them for me. Even if you speak the language it’s still impossible, but writing lyrics in somebody else’s language is even more difficult, but Jobim did it! He’s a genius - he’s like the Gershwin of Brazil!

When I met Michael Jackson here in LA, he said, “You know what my favourite song is in Brazil?” and he said “Waters of March”, which really shows how sensitive he was. The song is a classic!

I recorded a few songs with Milton because he’s one of my favourite composers, and like “Travessia”, “Morro Velho” is another one of my favourites of his. I think that’s why I mentioned him twice on my Nine Songs list, because his genius is never-ending.

This version is sung by my wife, so the song is really special to me, harmonically and melodically. Dave Grusin is such a great arranger, he wrote the orchestrations and it’s such a wonderful piece. My wife will be singing this at the London show as well, and I have a really great, young band. I mean – compared to me they’re young! But each of the musicians is very unique, and they’re all really excited for the show.

A lot of singers and composers have arranged this song, but this version is my favourite. Sinatra actually sang this song a few times in his show and I got to hear it in person, and it gives me a special feeling of nostalgia and warmth. “Long Ago (And Far Away)” has such a beautiful melody – so simple, but so beautiful combined with the lyrics as well.

When you asked me for nine songs, I could have given you eighteen and so many more! But that song is such a special one to me, and when I hear it now it just brings back so many memories.