Luiz Bonfá
Today we’re listening to Luiz Bonfá, a Brazilian guitarist and composer from Rio de Janeiro. Born in 1922, he started taking classical guitar lessons at age 11 and gained exposure across Brazil in the ‘40s.1 In the ‘50s he, along with Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, wrote the songs that spread bossanova music worldwide. We’re first listening to Solo in Rio 1959, a collection of around thirty short recordings. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, who reissued the album in 2005 with an extra thirty minutes of material, observed, “The recording reveals Bonfá's immense technical talent colored by a laid-back intimacy as he moves with effortless grace from his own compositions to Brazilian classics to off-the-cuff improvisations.” We’re also playing Bonfá’s 1972 record, Introspection, which shimmers and is almost psychedelic.
Solo in Rio 1959 - Luiz Bonfá (68m, voice on a smattering of tracks)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal
Introspection - Luiz Bonfá (26m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal
Have a great Thursday.
