Carlos Lyra is a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian singer and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 of numerous bossa nova

Bossa nova

Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...

 and Música Popular Brasileira

Música Popular Brasileira

Música Popular Brasileira or MPB designates a trend in post-Bossa Nova urban popular music. It is not a discrete genre but rather a constellation that combines original songwriting and updated versions of traditional Brazilian urban music styles like samba and samba-canção with contemporary...

 classics. He was born on May 11, 1939. Along with Roberto Menescal

Roberto Menescal

Roberto Menescal is a Brazilian jazz guitarist important to the founding of bossa nova. In many of his songs there are references to the sea. He is also known for work with Carlos Lyra. Menescal has performed in a variety of Latin music mediums, including Brazilian pop, Música Popular Brasileira,...

, he was a primary figure of the younger generation of bossa nova musicians who closely followed the inception of the style by João Gilberto

João Gilberto

João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira, known as João Gilberto , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. His seminal recordings, including many songs by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, established the new musical genre of Bossa nova in the late 1950s.-Biography:From an early age, music...

 and Antonio Carlos Jobim

Antônio Carlos Jobim

Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim , also known as Tom Jobim , was a Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist. He was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within...

. Later, he joined Nara Leão

Nara Leão

Nara Lofego Leão was a Brazilian bossa nova and MPB singer and occasional actress. Her husband was Carlos Diegues, director and writer of Bye Bye Brasil....

 as part of the bossa's activist wing, seeking a return to its samba roots.

He continues to compose, record, and perform today.

Lyra's most famous compositions include "Coisa Mais Linda", "Você e Eu", "Maria Ninguém" (once claimed by Jacqueline Kennedy

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...

 to be her favorite song), and "Influência do Jazz".

Quote

Referring to Tom Jobim's song, Samba do Avião (Song of the Jet), where it says "My soul sings / I see Rio de Janeiro", he said that his soul only sings when he gets into the South Zone of the city - region where lies all the Rio's famous beaches. He was specifically referring to the Rebouças Tunnel. Rebouças is a major tunnel that links the North to the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro.

External links

• http://www.carloslyra.com Official Site