Luiz Bonfá, music · Matt Dubey, lyrics · Written for the film The Gentle Rain (Portuguese title Chuva Delicada)
The Gentle Rain
The Gentle Rain is a by Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfá, with English words by Matt Dubey. Its mood moves between a shadowy minor and a brighter major one. It was recorded by singers, pianists, organists and guitarists, from the film's soundtrack album to a 2018 duet.
Listen in this order
Eight versions, from a singer with the composer on guitar to a duet for saxophone and bass. On the way you hear a piano trio, an organist with an orchestra, a long guitar-and-organ track, a four-voice group and a percussionist. The film's own recording and Astrud Gilberto's record sit with the extra versions.
Tony Bennett recorded it in New York on December 28, 1965, with the composer Luiz Bonfá on guitar. Bonfá is also credited with the arrangement, and the record came out on The Movie Song Album in 1966.
Composer plays guitar
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Listen for
Follow Bonfá's guitar under Bennett's voice. At 2:10 this is the shortest way in, so it is a good one to hear before the instrumental versions.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 8 as written: , Am6, , E7♭9/G♯, , , , F6, and hum the melody over them. Smaller version: play only the lowest note of each (A, A, G♯, G♯, G, C, F, F).
Ramsey Lewis recorded it in Chicago in July 1966 for The Movie Album, a Cadet record of film themes that came out in June 1967. Lewis plays piano, with Cleveland Eaton on bass and Maurice White on drums.
Piano trio
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Listen for
The piano carries the tune. Listen for the bass and drums that sit under Lewis's piano.
Try it on your instrument
Play the chain of in 9 to 14: , , , , , then in bar 14, landing on in bar 15. It takes a few tries. Smaller version: play only the bass notes (F♯, B, E, A, D, B, E) and then A.
Organist Jimmy Smith played it with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Oliver Nelson, recorded in Los Angeles on May 13, 1968. Verve also issued it as a single, paired with Mission: Impossible.
With organ · With an orchestra
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Listen for
Smith's organ stands out in front, with trumpets, trombones, saxophones and strings behind him. At 2:39 it is a short, bright track.
Try it on your instrument
Play the second ending, 17 to 24: , , , C7, F6, , , . Smaller version: play only the first four of those bars (Am7 D7, Gm7 C7) with one hand.
“The Gentle Rain (From the Film "The Gentle Rain")”, Beyond the Blue Horizon
George Benson stretched it past nine minutes on his first album for CTI, recorded at Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey on February 2 and 3, 1971. Organ, bass, drums and two percussionists play with him.
With organ
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Listen for
Clarence Palmer's organ plays alongside Benson's guitar, and two percussionists add to the drums. At over nine minutes, this is the longest track on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Stay on 1 to 4 (, Am6, , E7♭9/G♯) and loop them for a minute, as a band might open up a long track. Improvising over them takes more skill. Smaller version: play only A, A, G♯, G♯ in the bass with a steady beat.
Oscar Peterson Trio with The Singers Unlimited · 1971 · Swing, Vocal
In Tune
Oscar Peterson's trio backs the four-voice group The Singers Unlimited, recorded in July 1971 at Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer's private studio in Villingen, West Germany. The record is called In Tune.
Four-voice group
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Listen for
Four singers are the focus, with Peterson's piano, a bass and drums underneath. Listen for the four voices as one blended group.
Try it on your instrument
Sing or hum the melody for 5 to 8 while you play , , , F6, where the music moves from to . If you cannot sing and play at once, play the four on their own.
Joe Pass recorded it in Hollywood on May 8, 1978 with Paulinho da Costa on percussion, for an album of Brazilian tunes called Tudo Bem!. The album lists the song by its Portuguese title, Chuva Delicada.
With added percussion
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Listen for
Pass plays guitar with a full , and da Costa adds percussion on top of the drums. Listen for the extra layer of rhythm that a percussionist brings.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 8 (, Am6, , E7♭9/G♯, , , , F6) while a friend taps a steady rhythm on a shaker or a table, as the percussion does on this record.
Kenny Drew recorded it in Copenhagen on May 14 and 15, 1989, with bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and drummer Alvin Queen. It runs over five minutes on the album Recollections.
Piano trio
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Listen for
Only three players: piano, bass and drums. Listen for what the bassist, Pedersen, plays under Drew's piano.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole chart with the repeat: 1 to 14, the first ending (bars 15 and 16, and ), back to the top, bars 1 to 14 again, then the second ending (bars 17 to 24). Smaller version: play only the two first-ending bars (Am6, B♭7♯11) and go straight back to Am6.
Houston Person on tenor saxophone and Ron Carter on bass play it as a duet, recorded at Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey on March 27, 2018. It is the sixth album of duets the two have made.
Duo, saxophone and bass
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Listen for
Person's saxophone carries the tune while Carter's bass supplies everything underneath. Listen for how Carter fills the space usually left to a instrument.
Try it on your instrument
Play only the bass notes for 9 to 14 (F♯, B, E, A, D, then B and E in bar 14) while someone else plays or hums the melody. That is the same split of jobs as on the record.
Bonfá writes the song for a film, and its soundtrack album carries it in 1965 with arrangements by Eumir Deodato. Astrud Gilberto and Tony Bennett sing it, Bennett with Bonfá on guitar, and Ramsey Lewis and Jimmy Smith play it.
1970s
George Benson stretches it past nine minutes with organ and two percussionists in 1971, the year Oscar Peterson's trio backs four singers in Germany. Joe Pass plays it with percussionist Paulinho da Costa in 1978, and Sarah Vaughan records it in 1979.
1980s
Kenny Drew plays it in Copenhagen in 1989 with bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and drummer Alvin Queen, a piano trio.
1990s
Diana Krall includes it on her 1997 album Love Scenes, with guitarist Russell Malone and bassist Christian McBride.
2010s
Houston Person on tenor saxophone and Ron Carter on bass record it as a duet at Van Gelder Studio in 2018, on the sixth album of duets they have made.
More great versions
5 more, from 1965 to 1997. Tap a cover to play it here.
Astrud Gilberto sings it on The Shadow of Your Smile, a 1965 Verve record produced by Creed Taylor, with Don Sebesky arranging this track. The album was recorded at A&R Studios and RCA Studios in New York in 1964 and 1965.
The song first appeared on the soundtrack album for the film The Gentle Rain, with music by Bonfá and orchestra arrangements by Eumir Deodato. The soundtrack was recorded in Rio de Janeiro.
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
A minorusual key
38 barsA · A form
A m · F · E m · D mkeys it moves between
A16 bars
A22 bars
A m
F
E m
D m
A m
F
E m
D m
A m
F
A m
The chart has 24 : bars 1 to 14, a first ending (bars 15 and 16) and a second ending (bars 17 to 24). Played with the repeat, the tune runs 38 bars: bars 1 to 16, then bars 1 to 14 again and the eight bars of the second ending. Bars 1 to 4 stay in on and . Bars 5 to 8 move to with , and . Bars 9 to 14 then pass through three minor , , and , each led in by its own dominant (, ), and brings the music home to Am6. The first ending closes on Am6 and , which leads back to bar 1. The second ending plays , C7 and F6, settles in F major for five bars, and returns to A minor with , Am6 and B♭7♯11.