Luiz Bonfá

Luiz Bonfá was a Brazilian guitarist and prolific songwriter known best for the songs he contributed to the 1959 film 'Black Orpheus' directed by Marcel Camus. He released a lot of recordings from 1955 until his death in 2001 at the age of 78.

Several of his songs met with international success including 'Almost in Love', which Elvis Presley sang in the 1968 film 'Live a Little, Love a Little'. His songs were recorded by artists including Frank Sinatra, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson. The song 'Seville' from his 1967 album 'Luiz Bonfá Plays Great Songs' became 'Somebody That I Used to Know' recorded by Belgian-Australian singer Goyte in 2011.

He studied guitar as a child and after he performed on the radio in his homeland and he had a stint with the singing group Quitandinha Serenaders. Nora Ney recorded his first hit song 'De Cigarro Em Cigarro' in 1957 and 'Manha de Carnaval', the main theme from 'Black Orpheus', became an international success and he began to tour around the world. 'The Bonfá Magic' and 'Moods' are among his latter albums.