Having now passed from life to legend, Bonfá's guitar mastery remains at the pinnacle and no celebration of 'Brazilian Guitar Month' would be complete without Luis Bonfá Plays and sings Bossa Nova' a 1962 studio setting which show us an earlier side of his talent with 13 Bossa Nova gems.

Luis Bonfá will best be remembered by Brazilian music purests as the composer of the soundtrack from the cult movie 'Black Orpheus' which yielded the now time-honoured 'Manha de Carnaval' ( Morning of the Carnival ). 'Plays and sings Bossa Nova' was released in 1962, the same year that the bossa nova exploded onto the scene in North America.

Like his fellow composers, Jobim and Gilberto, Bonfá, a native of Rio who studied under maestro guitarist Isaias Savio, had been performing and composing in his native country and made the breakthrough with this outstanding collection of lilting and soothing melodies.

Bonfá met Hollywood movie arranger Lalo Schrifrin shortly before this set was recorded and his input of strings combined with Bonfá's soothing vocals and masterful guitar solos produce a 13-track synergy of bossa excellence. Joining Bonfá is Oscar Castro-Neves, best known for his own work (and as the music director for Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66), flutist Leo Wright and the much under-rated Helena Toledo on vocals.

The album features instrumental and vocal excursions sung in Portuguese, and like Jobim and Gilberto they explore complicated chord structures, key changes and improvisations yet link unhurriedly with verve and passion with the richness of strings and the sparing use of flute solos.

This is a beautiful introduction to the music of bossa nova and will guide first time listeners to explore the magic of this wonderful style and hopefully inspire them to learn more about Luis Bonfá at the dawn of his Bossa Nova career.

The creative direction of renowned producer Aloysio de Oliveira brings us a second look at Bonfa's early years: 'Gênio Do Violão' chronicles the musical talent of not only Garoto, whose brief but intensely active career included a year in New York and a performing role with Carmen Miranda in Down Argentine Way, but also Luiz Bonfá, best known for his contributions to the film score for Black Orpheus with "Manha de Carnaval."

The 26 tracks are re-mastered from original tapes, and listening to them is like opening a time capsule. Although details of the recording dates are sketchy, Garoto's passing in 1955 indicates that his versions of "Tu," "Na Baixa do Sapateiro" and "Aquarela do Brasil" (all written by Ary Baroso) represent one of the earliest examples of what would soon become the Bossa sound.

Bonfá's own compositions are from the same period and include "Sambolero" and the lovely "Monique." Covers of "Tenderly" and "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" show that the cultural distance between Brazil and the US had already been bridged as another element in Bossa's rise to popularity. But it all began with albums like this one.