Luiz Bonfa

• Genre: Bossa Nova
• Hometown: Rio de Janeiro

About

Legendary Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfa is a key progenitor to the Bossa Nova movement. After a stint playing clubs in Rio de Janeiro, he migrated to New York in the late 1950s, where he worked as a guitarist and composer with Stan Getz (among others). Having worked as a composer for Brazilian films, he was asked to contribute to the 1959 soundtrack for Black Orpheus, for which he wrote the immortal theme song "Manha de Carnaval." In great demand as both a composer and guitarist due to his exceptionally precise playing, he even wrote a song for Elvis Presley. Over the years, he has recorded more than thirty records -- most of which by 1973. Although obscured by the likes of fellow countrymen and colleagues Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joao Gilberto, his contribution to Brazilian jazz -- and Bossa Nova is particular -- is paramount.

- Robert Leaver