This week, I’ve had João Gilberto’s version of “Manhã de Carnaval” #OnRepeat. This is one of my favorite Bossa Nova standards and is my favorite version of this song.
João Gilberto is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Bahia, Brazil and many of his recordings in the 1950’s are associated with the creation of the genre of Bossa Nova, along with Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Vinicius de Moraes. Some of his most well-known recordings are “Chega de Saudade,” “The Girl From Ipanema,” and “Desafinado.”
“Manhã de Carnaval” was composed by Luiz Bonfá and the lyrics were written by Antônio Maria. The English version of the song is also well-known (“The Day in the Life of a Fool”), though the lyrics aren’t as poetic or profound. It was used as the theme song for the 1959 film, Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus), which was directed by French director, Marcel Camus and was entirely in Portuguese. The film is based off the Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice, but was set in Brazil. “Manhã de Carnaval” became internationally popular because of the film and even won an Academy Award in 1960.
Gilberto’s version of “Manhã de Carnaval” is my favorite particularly because of the arrangement–a long introduction with violins before João comes in–and because of Gilberto’s performance of the song. Gilberto’s voice has the common characteristics associated with the Bossa Nova style, such as straight-tone singing, yet he brings so much taste to the version. His choice of inflection on certain words and phrases in the lyrics and his use of vocal color (changing the timbre of his voice slightly for dramatic effect) makes his performance of this song both beautiful and interesting.
Listen below:
Do you guys like this version of this song? Is there a singer that you think performs a standard very well? Leave a comment below!