A virtuoso, subtle and passionate musician, guitarist, singer and composer Luiz Bonfá (1922-2001) is one of the main architects of bossa nova and one of the greatest masters of twentieth-century Brazilian popular music. As a composer and performer, Bonfá was above all a representative of the bold, lyrical, richly orchestrated and emotionally charged samba-canção style that preceded the arrival of João Gilberto's more refined and discreet bossa nova style. This is one of his greatest albums, Plays and Sings Bossa Nova, on which he collaborated with stars such as Leo Wright, Oscar Castro-Neves and Lalo Schifrin. This superb edition includes Bonfá's classic version of his song ‘Manhã de Carnaval’ (aka ‘Black Orpheus’), among many other tracks.