Guilherme de Brito
Encyclopedia
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
, singer, songwriter, and painter.
Biography
Guilherme de Brito Bollhorst was born in Vila IsabelVila Isabel
Vila Isabel is a neighbourhood in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil....
, a traditional neighborhood with regard to samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
, the home of 12 years older Noel Rosa
Noel Rosa
Noel de Medeiros Rosa was a Brazilian songwriter, singer, and guitar/banjo player. One of the greatest names in Brazilian popular music, Noel gave a new twist to samba, combining its Afro-Brazilian roots with a more urban, witty language and making it a vehicle for ironic social commentary.Noel...
, with whom he was acquainted and who often gave him rides on his car. Brito was the son of Alfredo Nicolau Bollhorst and Marieta de Brito Bollhorst. Guilherme de Brito got a cavaquinho
Cavaquinho
The cavaquinho is a small string instrument of the European guitar family with four wire or gut strings. It is also called machimbo, machim, machete , manchete or marchete, braguinha or braguinho, or cavaco.The most common tuning is D-G-B-D ; other tunings include D-A-B-E...
as a present when he was eight; later he became also a violonista
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
. With the death of his father when he was 12, Brito had to drop his studies and start working. He got a job at old Casa Edson, one of the first recording studios to function in Brazil. His aptitude as an artist arose at a tender age; when still a boy, he used to draw with pencils and coal.
Guilherme de Brito met his most important partner, 11 years older Nelson Cavaquinho
Nelson Cavaquinho
Nelson Cavaquinho was one of the most important singer/composers of samba. He is usually seen as a representative of the tragic aspects of samba thematics, with many songs about death and hopelessness...
, when the latter, already famous and known, used to play in the bars of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
suburbs. In that moment, one of the most important partnerships in samba history was born.
Guilherme de Brito wrote 153 songs, the great majority being sambas, almost all of them in partnership, being 75 with Nelson Cavaquinho. They were recorded by many samba artists besides himself, such as Cartola
Cartola
Angenor de Oliveira, known as Cartola , was a Brazilian singer, composer and poet considered to be a major figure in the development of samba.Cartola composed, alone or with partners, more than 500 songs.-Biography:...
, Elizeth Cardoso, Paulinho da Viola
Paulinho da Viola
Paulinho da Viola is a Brazilian sambista, singer/songwriter, guitar, cavaquinho and mandolin player, known for his sophisticated harmonies and soft, gentle singing voice.-Biography:...
and especially Beth Carvalho
Beth Carvalho
Elizabeth Santos Leal de Carvalho is a Brazilian samba singer, guitarist, cavaquinist and composer.-Biography:...
, who had a great reverence for the work of the duo Guilherme de Brito-Nelson Cavaquinho. Some of their most famous songs include "A Flor e O Espinho", "Quando eu me Chamar Saudade", "Pranto de Poeta", "Folhas Secas" and "Minha Festa".
Some of Guilheme de Brito's most famous verses are from the song "A Flor e O Espinho", with Nelson Cavaquinho. They say:
Tire o seu sorriso do caminho
Que eu quero passar com a minha dor
Translation:
Take your smile away from the way
That I want to pass with my pain
As a painter, Guilherme de Brito has his works exposed in galleries across 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...
, the USA, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Discography
- 2003 - A Flor e o Espinho
- 2001 - Samba Guardado
- 1990 - Folhas Secas
- 1988 - Guilherme de Brito
- 1980 - Guilherme de Brito