Partners
Throughout his extensive musical career, Vinicius wrote hundreds of songs. Alone, with partners, writing only the lyrics, writing lyrics and composing music, sometimes, even composing music for others to be the lyricists. In these hundreds of songs, some partners have changed of Vinicius’s life and the history of our popular music. Since the "invention of Bossa Nova" and the worldwide success alongside Tom Jobim until the early career of a young Edu Lobo, Vinícius sowed his poetry in multiple sound fronts. Conductors, samba dancers, young people, old people, renowned and beginners, all of them had a key role in Vinicius’s musical career. Below, some of the poet’s main partners.
Tom Jobim
Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes formed one of the most famous musical partnerships of all times not only in Brazil as in the world. It was from that meeting of the duo on, in 1956, to perform the soundtrack of the play Orpheus of the Conception, that a golden history in our popular music started - and a friendship for life. Authors of dozens of songs performed by several generations, they are responsible for hits like "A Felicidade” (Happiness), "Chega de Saudade" (No More Blues), "Eu sei que vou te amar” (I know I Will Love You) and of course, "Garota de Ipanema” (Girl from Ipanema).
Baden Powell
The partnership between Vinicius de Moraes and Baden Powell was one of the most intense in the poet’s career. After forming the duo, they spent almost three months living together and writing nonstop in the apartment where Vinicius lived in Laranjeiras. The partnership kept going on in many places, including Paris, where they lived for a period of time. Besides a series of sambas which had led the lyricist, Vinicius, to other music styles besides the Bossa Nova, the duo created a kind of Bahian-Carioca samba, introducing a sounding and poetry until then unpublished. The duo named this genius batch of songs as The Afrosambas. The eponymous album, released in 1966, became a turning point of the Brazilian popular music.
Carlos Lyra
The 25-year-old Carlos Lyra called the poet Vinicius de Moraes in order to, possibly, compose some songs together. That day, it began a strong partnership and friendship, consolidated with over twenty songs. Some of them, like the soundtrack of the show “Pobre Menina Rica” (Poor Little Rich Girl -1962) and the “Hino da UNE” (Anthem of UNE - 1964) defined an era and some directions of the Brazilian Popular Music.
Edu Lobo
When Edu Lobo was still 18 years old, he was a young college student, taking law. That same year, becomes a partner simply Vinicius de Moraes. The already famous poet and composer spent during that time some seasons in Petropolis and there he met a new generation of musicians like Joyce, Francis Hime and Edu himself. The age difference did not stop the two of them to compose a series of hit songs at that time. Together, they won the first Festival of Popular Music of Record TV, with the striking "Arrastão” (Dragnet).
Toquinho
Toquinho and Vinicius officially met each other in Italy, although Toquinho had already had Vinicius as his idol for a long time. He was Chico Buarque’s friend and had gone to Europe to keep him company during the second exile. When he was 23 years old, he met Vinicius and they began a partnership that would only end with the death of the poet. Toquinho was then 34 years old. In these eleven years, Toquinho was the one who accompanied Vinicius in his most popular period with the public and the most misunderstood one by the critics. This was when the poet was freed from a series of conventions and faced the world with an endless series of concerts and albums. The duo recorded, between studio recordings and live recordings, more than fifteen albums in this period, as well as classics like "Tarde em Itapoã” (Afternoon in Itapoã), "Carta ao Tom” (Letter to Tom) and "Regra Três” (Rule Number Three).
Outros parceiros
The list of Vinicius’s leap or sporadic partners is very long. We have from unknown youngsters at the time as Jards Macalé and Francis Hime, to renowned names like Pixinguinha and Ary Barroso. One of them, Chico Buarque, had few partnerships, but with successes that were forever in our best Songbook. Besides those mentioned, many other names of partners are noteworthy as (in alphabetical order): Adoniram Barbosa, Antonio Maria Costa Alaíde, Ary Barroso, Antonio Madureira, Azeitona, Claudio Santoro, Fagner, Francisco Enoé, Francis Hime, Garoto, Haroldo Tapajós, Ian Guest, Jards Macalé, João Bosco, Marília Medalha, Moacir Santos, Mutinho, Nilo Queiroz, Paulo Soledade, Paulo Tapajós, Pixinguinha and Vadico.
