Carlos Lyra

One of the most important artists of the bossa nova movement, Carlos Lyra (Carlos Eduardo Lyra Barbosa - 5/11/1939 Rio de Janeiro) was also an intellectual behind the movement, forging new directions like the protest song. Lyra wrote some of the best moments of the bossa nova on his own or together with illustrious partners like Vinícius de Moraes. With Roberto Menescal, Carlos Lyra created a guitar academy that became a meeting point for future artists like Edu Lobo, Marcos Valle, Nara Le?o, and Ronaldo B?scoli. In 1954, Geraldo Vandré interpreted his song "Menina" in a festival; it was recorded in the next year by Sílvia Telles. Three years later, Os Cariocas recorded his "Criticando." In 1959, Jo?o Gilberto included three of Lyra's compositions: "Maria Ninguém," "Lobo Bobo," and "Saudade Fez um Samba" (the latter two written with B?scoli) in his Chega de Saudade (a landmark in the bossa nova genre). Lyra recorded his first solo album in that year, Carlos Lyra - Bossa Nova. Interested in a more active political militancy, Lyra wrote soundtracks for plays like Vianinha's A Mais-Valia Vai Acabar, Seu Edgar. That same year, Lyra met Vinícius de Moraes, with whom he would write bossa nova classics like "Você e Eu," "Minha Namorada," "Marcha da Quarta-Feira de Cinzas," and "Coisa Mais Linda." His social concerns took him to the CPC (Popular Center of Culture), where he would brew the protest song derived from the bossa nova, seen by him and other composers like Edu Lobo, Geraldo Vandré, and Chico Buarque as reactionary. The immediate result of his cultural activity was a partnership with Zé Kéti in the "Samba da Legalidade," influencing the formation of the historic Opini?o show, which had Nara Le?o, Maria Bethania, Zé Kéti, and Jo?o do Vale in a highly politicized text. In 1962, Lyra participated in the Bossa Nova Festival in the Carnegie Hall (New York). In the next year, Lyra wrote the soundtrack of the film Bonitinha Mas Ordinária, over text by Nelson Rodrigues.