Braguinha (composer)

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Carlos Alberto Ferreira Braga (March 29, 1907 – December 24, 2006), commonly known as Braguinha ("Little Braga") or João de Barro ("the Hornero"), was a Brazilian songwriter and occasional singer. He was born in Rio de Janeiro, where he lived all his life. Braga studied architecture in his youth, and, when he started to write songs, he adopted the pseudonym "João de Barro" (the name of a bird that builds elaborate mud nests), as his father wouldn't approve of seeing the family name associated with the world of samba and popular music, then on the fringes of society.

Braguinha is most famous for his Carnaval marchinhas (a genre of light-hearted songs related rhythmically to the military march). Many of those, some composed as early as the 1930s, have become standards of Brazilian popular music, being sung by revellers year after year during Carnaval celebrations. His marchinhas have been recorded by some of the best-known Carnaval singers of the 20th century, such as Carmen Miranda.

In 1937, Braguinha wrote the lyrics to "Carinhoso", composed by Pixinguinha twenty years earlier. The sophisticated samba-choro would become one of the most recorded songs in Brazilian musical history. Another beloved classic, the lyrical "Pastorinhas", was written in collaboration with legendary samba composer Noel Rosa.

He died on a Christmas Eve, at the age of 99; the official cause of death was described as multiple organ failure caused by a general infection.

[edit] Selected discography

Pra vancê/Coisas da roça (1929) Parlophon 78
Desengano/Assombração (1929) Parlophon 78
Salada (1929) Parlophon 78
Não quero amor nem carinho (1930) Parlophon 78
Dona Antonha (1930) Parlophon 78
Minha cabrocha/A mulher e a carroça (1930) Parlophon 78
Quebranto (1930) Parlophon 78
Mulata (1931) Parlophon 78
Cor de prata/Nega (1931) Parlophon 78
Tu juraste… eu jurei/Vou à Penha rasgado (1931) Parlophon 78
Samba da boa vontade/Picilone (1931) 13.344 78
O amor é um bichinho/Lua cheia (1932) Parlophon 78
João de Barro (1972) RCA Victor LP
Viva Braguinha (1985) LP
João de Barro e Coisas Nossas (1983) Funarte LP
Yes, nós temos Braguinha (1998) Funarte/Atração CD
João de Barro (Braguinha) — Nasce um compositor (1999) Revivendo CD
João de Barro — A música do século, por seus autores e intérpretes (2000) Sesc São Paulo CD