Why this tune?
This week’s tune “The Gentle Rain” is a gentle bossa nova composed by Luiz Bonfá that has been in my set lists for a while. Bonfá wrote it for the soundtrack of the 1966 film “The Gentle Rain,” and it was quickly picked up by jazz and pop artists as an instrumental piece or with Matt Dubey’s lyrics. There are almost 250 recordings of the song to date.
Bonfá was a prolific Brazilian composer whose most famous work, “Manhã de Carnaval,” from the Oscar-winning film “Orfeu Negro” (“Black Orpheus”), was one of the first Bossa Nova tunes to become popular outside Brazil, leading to a worldwide Bossa Nova movement that peaked in the 1960s. “Black Orpheus”, also known as “A Day In The Life of a Fool,” is still regularly recorded and performed, showing the ongoing popularity of bossa nova music. You’re likely to hear at least one bossa at any jazz jam session or jazz gig, most likely one of the compositions of Antônio Carlos Jobim.
You can also hear the bossa tradition in the work of Laufey, who shows the influence of the Brazilian bossa pioneers in her songs and the influence of Astrud Gilberto, the iconic voice of the bossa movement sin the 1960s, in her performances.
I recorded a few choruses of “The Gentle Rain” at a more upbeat tempo than many recordings of the song that take a more relaxed pace.
Tunes On Tuesday Reel
Check it out!
Luiz Bonfá
Astrud Gilberto
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 