Baden Powell, Vinicius De Moraes

“The Afro-Sambas from Baden Powell and Vinícius de Moraes”… Many guitarists all over the world respectfully smile when they hear these words. The compositions are true masterpieces that never seem to loose their inspiring quality. The two legends in Brazilian Music recorded the album in 1966 as a conclusion of their mutual interest in the Afro-Brazilian culture.

As a witness of the rise of Bossa Nova, Baden Powell (1937, Varre-Sai (north of Rio de Janeiro)) got in contact with Tom Jobim in 1959. Three years later Jobim introduced him to Vinícius de Moraes. The two got along together in a remarkable way. Baden crashed down at the apartment of his new friend for endless discussions about the Afro-Brazilian culture, theCandomblé. They were fascinated by the music and words that are used during the rituals. The talks about the West African religions and how they were mixed in Brazil with Catholicism started off the idea to integrate the knowledge into their own music. An intensive session of composing resulted in the Afro-Sambas from Baden Powell and Vinícius de Moraes! Baden Powell’s unique guitar style seemed to have been developed especially for this purpose. His classical training which he combined with an inimitable samba-technique completely comes to right when he plays the afro-sambas. His work is praised as a typical and pure Brazilian guitar style.