Luiz Bonfá, music · Antônio Maria, lyrics · Written for the film Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro), 1959
Samba de Orfeu
Luiz Bonfá wrote Samba de Orfeu, with words by Antônio Maria, for the film Black Orpheus. Eight of the main part repeat one short pattern, and the middle part visits two other . Versions here run from a film track under two minutes to a 14-minute festival jam.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the film recording, then follows the tune into American jazz: a quintet, Vince Guaraldi's trio, a West Coast group, a saxophone and guitar quartet and a live flute band. It ends with a live piano, guitar and bass trio from Paris and a 2013 album by a Brazilian bassist.
Bud Shank, Clare Fischer and Joe Pass1963 · Bossa nova
Paul Desmond Quartet with Jim Hall1963 · Cool jazz
Herbie Mann1963
1970sOscar Peterson, Joe Pass and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen1978
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010sNilson Matta's Black Orpheus2013
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Hear the tune where it began
Luiz Bonfá · 1959
Orfeu Negro: bande originale du film
Luiz Bonfá wrote the tune for Marcel Camus's 1959 film Black Orpheus, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes that year. The French soundtrack LP on Philips credits Antônio Maria alongside Bonfá.
From the film Black Orpheus · Guitar lead
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Listen for
Bonfá plays guitar on this film recording, which runs just under two minutes. Keep the sound of this short version in mind for the longer ones that follow.
Try it on your instrument
Hold for 1 to 4. Then play bar 5 as Cmaj7 and , bar 6 as and , bar 7 as and bar 8 as , with the melody on top. Smaller version: play only Cmaj7 for bars 1 to 4 and listen to the melody.
“Samba De Orfeu”, Introducing the Rocky Boyd Quintet: Ease It
Trumpeter Kenny Dorham and tenor saxophonist Rocky Boyd recorded it in March 1961 at Bell Sound Studios in New York. It came out that year on the Jazztime label as part of Introducing the Rocky Boyd Quintet: Ease It.
Trumpet lead · Tenor saxophone lead
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Listen for
A trumpet and a tenor saxophone share the , with piano, bass and drums behind them. The track runs about four and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play 7 to 14, where and take a bar each, four times over. Then play bars 15 and 16 of the first : and in bar 15, Dm7 and G7 in bar 16. Smaller version: play only the bar 7 and bar 8 , Dm7 then G7.
“Samba de Orfeu (Orpheus Samba)”, Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus
Guaraldi's trio recorded it in February 1962 for the album Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus, in a television studio in San Francisco. Fantasy also issued it as a single, with Guaraldi's own Cast Your Fate to the Wind on the other side, and that side became the hit.
Piano trio
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Only piano, bass and drums play, and the piano carries the tune. It runs almost three times as long as the film version.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , 33 to 40: , , for two bars, , , , then and in the last bar. Smaller version: play only the first four bars of it.
Alto saxophonist and flutist Bud Shank, pianist Clare Fischer and guitarist Joe Pass recorded the album Brasamba! in Los Angeles in April 1963. Samba de Orfeu is the last track listed on it.
Alto saxophone lead · Vibraphone on the track
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Listen for
Three leaders share the credit on this record: Shank on saxophone and flute, Fischer on piano and Pass on guitar. Listen for which of them has the melody at each turn.
Try it on your instrument
Play 5 and 6 slowly: with in bar 5, then with in bar 6. These two bars are the first change of color in the tune. Smaller version: play them as whole-note only.
Paul Desmond Quartet with Jim Hall · 1963 · Cool jazz
“Samba de Orpheu”, Take Ten
Alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and guitarist Jim Hall recorded it at Webster Hall in New York on June 10, 1963, with bassist Gene Cherico and drummer Connie Kay. It came out that year on Desmond's RCA Victor album Take Ten.
Alto saxophone lead · Guitar lead
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Listen for
Desmond's alto saxophone and Hall's guitar are the two lead voices, with only bass and drums behind them. The track runs about four and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the two endings of the . In 15 and 16 the first time through, play and , then and , which lead back to the top. In bars 31 and 32 the second time, play for both bars and move on to the .
Herbie Mann's band played it at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1963, and Atlantic issued the set that year as Live at Newport. Conga player Patato Valdes and percussionist Willie Bobo joined the group for this tune and two others.
Flute lead · Live recording · Conga or extra percussion · Vibraphone on the track
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Mann's flute leads, with vibraphone, piano and guitar beside it and two percussionists in the . It runs over six minutes, about three times the film version, so the band has room to stretch out.
Try it on your instrument
Take 7 to 14, where and take a bar each. Play only quarter notes from the scale over them, one per bar. This asks for a little improvising. Smaller version: play just the root of each chord.
Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen · 1978
The Paris Concert
Oscar Peterson, guitarist Joe Pass and bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen played it at the Salle Pleyel in Paris on October 5, 1978. It came out on Pablo Live in 1979 as part of The Paris Concert.
Live recording · No drums · Guitar lead
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Listen for
Piano, guitar and bass play without drums, so the three of them carry the beat between them. The track is a live recording and runs just under five minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole chart once at a slow tempo with the written endings: and in 15 the first time, in bars 31 and 32 the second time, then the and the last A. Smaller version: play only the first , bars 1 to 16.
Brazilian bassist Nilson Matta, who moved to New York in 1985, built his 2013 Motéma album around the Black Orpheus story. Samba de Orfeu is its third track, with Kenny Barron on piano and Anat Cohen on clarinet.
Clarinet on the track
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Clarinet and piano lead over bass, guitar, drums and percussion on this version, which runs 3:51. Anat Cohen plays the clarinet and Kenny Barron the piano.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole chart once at a slow tempo and take the written endings: 15 and 16 the first time, bars 31 and 32 the second time. Smaller version: play only the eight bars of the , bars 33 to 40.
Luiz Bonfá writes the tune for the film Black Orpheus, which wins the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1959. Bonfá plays it himself on the film's soundtrack album.
1960s
A quintet with trumpeter Kenny Dorham records it in 1961, and Vince Guaraldi's trio makes an album of Black Orpheus themes in 1962. Herbie Mann's band plays it live at Newport in 1963.
1970s
Oscar Peterson plays it twice: in a 14-minute festival jam at Montreux in 1977, and in a trio without drums, with guitarist Joe Pass, at the Salle Pleyel in Paris in 1978.
2010s
Brazilian bassist Nilson Matta builds an album around the Black Orpheus story, released in 2013, with Kenny Barron on piano and Anat Cohen on clarinet on this track.
More great versions
3 more, from 1965 to 1977. Tap a cover to play it here.
1960sMaria Toledo and Luiz Bonfá1965
Oscar Peterson1966 · Latin jazz
1970sThe Pablo All Stars Jam1977
Maria Toledo and Luiz Bonfá
1965
Braziliana
Bonfá's wife, the singer Maria Toledo, is the vocalist on this track from their 1965 album Braziliana, with Bonfá on guitar and two drummers. The album credits Antônio Maria for the words.
Oscar Peterson recorded it in Chicago in December 1966 with his bassist and drummer plus three Latin percussionists. It appeared in 1967 on the Limelight album Soul Español.
“Samba De Orfeu”, The Pablo All Stars Jam: Montreux '77
Trumpeter Clark Terry, tenor saxophonist Ronnie Scott and vibraphonist Milt Jackson joined Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass, bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and drummer Bobby Durham for a 14-minute jam at Montreux on July 14, 1977. It was issued the same year on Pablo Live.
Live recording · Trumpet lead · Vibraphone on the track
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
C majorusual key
56 barsA · A · B · A form
C major → F major → E♭ major → C majorkey centers
A16 bars
A16 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A16 bars
C
F
E♭
C
The tune runs 56 : A (16), A (16), the B (8) and a last A (16). Each A holds for four bars, plays Cmaj7 with in bar 5 and with in bar 6, then settles into eight bars (7 to 14) where and take a bar each. Bars 15 and 16 change: the first time they are with A7 and then Dm7 with G7, which turn back to the top, and the second time they are two bars of Cmaj7. The bridge moves to (, , , Fmaj7), steps down to (, , ) and returns home with Dm7 and G7 before the last A. The last A leaves through the second ending, which is why the chart marks D.C. al 2nd ending. is home, with F major and E♭ major only in the bridge. Key bars: 32 in C major, 4 in F major, 3 in E♭ major, then 17 in C major.