Luiz Bonfa

Luiz Bonfa was a Brazilian guitarist and composer who became famous for the soundtracks he wrote to such movies as "Black Orpheus" and "The Gentle Rain." Bonfa was born on October 17, 1922 in Rio de Janeiro. He studied in Rio with Uruguayan classical guitarist Isaias Savio from the age of twelve. Bonfa first gained widespread exposure in Brazil in 1947 when he was featured on Rio's Radio Nacional, then an important showcase for up-and-coming talent. He was a member of the vocal group Quitandinha Serenaders in the late 1940s. Some of his compositions were recorded by Dick Farney in the 1950s. It was through Farney that Bonfa was introduced to Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, collaborating with them on the stage play Orfeu da Conceicao, which several years later gave origin to Marcel Camus' legendary film “Black Orpheus”. Bonfa played acoustic guitar throughout the movie soundtrack, and wrote the two most important songs featured in the film, “Samba de Orfeu” and his most famous composition, “Manha de Carnaval” (of which Carl Sigman later wrote a different set of English lyrics titled “A Day in the Life of a Fool”), which has been among the top ten standards played worldwide, according to The Guinness Book of World Records. Camus' film and Bonfa's collaborations with American jazzmen (he was the first Brazilian artist to be signed by Verve Records and to record with Stan Getz, on the album "Jazz Samba Encore!) did much to bring Brazilian popular music to the attention of the world, and Bonfa became a highly visible ambassador of Brazilian music in the United States beginning with the famous November 1962 Bossa Nova concert at New York's Carnegie Hall. Bonfa also recorded with Quincy Jones, Tony Bennett, George Benson, Caterina Valente and Frank Sinatra, recording several albums in United States and Europe. Elvis Presley sang a Bonfa composition, “Almost in Love”, in the 1968 MGM film “Live a Little, Love a Little”. He wrote soundtracks for 22 movies and recorded over 40 albums, for such labels as Atlantic, Epic, Philips, RCA and Ranwood. Among them, "Introspection" (RCA, 1972, regarded as one of the best solo guitar albums ever made) and "Jacaranda", a fusion masterpiece released in 1973 featuring Eumir Deodato, Stanley Clarke, Idris Muhammad, Airto Moreira, Ray Barretto, John Tropea). Bonfa remained well-connected in the US after returning to Brazil in 1974, and also toured Europe in 1976 and Australia in 1978, where he recorded a great album with Don Burrows, "Bonfa Burrows Brazil", later released in the US by Jazzman Records in 1981.

"Non-Stop To Brazil" (Chesky Records, 1989) and "The Bonfá Magic" (produced by Arnaldo DeSouteiro for Milestone in 1993) also received rave reviews. His last album, 1997's “Almost in Love - Ithamara Koorax Sings Luiz Bonfa”, was a collaboration with Brazilian singer Ithamara Koorax, reuniting him with old friends like Deodato, Ron Carter, Larry Coryell and Sadao Watanabe. Bonfa died in Rio de Janeiro on January 12, 2001 from prostate cancer complicated by ischemia. He was 78 years old.