Who is Orestes Barbosa?
Orestes Barbosa wrote highly successful and classic valses,
foxes, and sambas that were recorded by composers/interpreters like
http://www.answers.com/topic/castro-barbosa, Silvio Caldas,
http://www.answers.com/topic/francisco-alves,
http://www.answers.com/topic/noel-rosa-1,
http://www.answers.com/topic/carlos-galhardo,
http://www.answers.com/topic/aracy-de-almeida,
http://www.answers.com/topic/orlando-silva, Zezé Gonzaga, and
http://www.answers.com/topic/paulinho-da-viola-1, among others. He
also wrote ten books and was a reporter, reviser, secretary,
chronicler, owner -- in the end, performing all functions -- in
newspapers. He worked in many of them, like A Gazeta de Notícias, A
Manhã, O Radical, Opinião, O Mundo, A Hora, O Avante, A Folha, A
Noite, O Dia, A Notícia, O Globo, Diretrizes, A Pátria, and A
Imprensa. A man of ideals, he was arrested several times and wrote
his book Na Prisão in the jail. Born in the same neighborhood as
Noel Rosa and Vila Isabel, Orestes Barbosa moved with his family to
the Gávea borough in 1899, where they lived in poverty and no
education. There he knew a boy by the name Clodoaldo Pereira de
Moraes, who would be
http://www.answers.com/topic/vinicius-de-moraes' father. de Moraes
taught him how to play the violão (acoustic guitar) and Barbosa
taught himself to read from streetcar advertising and newspaper
headlines. At nine, was praised by journalist João Guedes de Melo
as a future talent. At 13, he won a contest promoted by Tico-Tico
magazine.
In 1913, Barbosa became a reporter, at the Diário de Notícias,
run by Rui Barbosa. In the same year, he participated in the
foundation of other newspapers like O Jornal and O Imparcial. Also
in that year, an important fact for the Brazilian samba involving
Barbosa occurred. Motivated by the increase and impunity of
gambling in the city, Irineu Marinho's newspaper A Noite unleashed
a campaign for morality attacking the omissive commissary. Barbosa
went to the Largo da Carioca and put a cardboard roulette with
ironic words in a poster there. It was fully reported by the city's
press and the situation was depicted soon after in the
controversial first recorded samba "Pelo Telefone" ("By the
Telephone") (Donga/http://www.answers.com/topic/mauro-de-almeida,
written in 1916 and recorded in the next year), as "the Police
chief/By the telephone/told someone to inform/that in the Largo da
Carioca/there is a roulette/for us to play." In 1917, Barbosa
released Penumbra Sagrada, his first poetry book. Na Prisão, Água
Marinha, the novel A Fêmea, and others followed. In 1923, he was
sent to Europe by newspaper A Pátria, where he was decorated as
Comendador da Ordem de São Tiago da Espada in Portugal. With the
official opening of radio transmissions in Brazil in 1922, the
nascent cultural industry was marked by the talents of
http://www.answers.com/topic/lamartine-babo,
http://www.answers.com/topic/noel-rosa-1, Ary Barroso, along with
Barbosa himself and others. He was the first to keep a column about
radio in the Carioca press, in the newspaper A Hora. In 1924,
Barbosa traveled again to Europe, visiting France, Spain, Germany,
Belgium, and Holland. In 1929, he went another time to the old
continent. In 1932, he was a juror in the first samba school
Carnival contest. Two years later, together with Ary Barroso and
other composers, he wrote the soundtrack of Humberto Mauro's movie
Favela Dos Meus Amores. He already had his lyrics had been recorded
since 1928, but they were written originally as poetry. In the
'30s, he began to devote himself intentionally to popular music,
with "Romance de Carnaval" valse (with J. Machado) and "Bangalô"
(with Osvaldo Santiago), the latter being recorded by Alvinho for
Odeon in 1931. Castro Barbosa recorded two of his songs in the same
year, through Victor: the fox "Flor Do Asfalto" and the samba
"Carioca." Also in 1931, he recorded as singer for the first time.
The songs were "Nega, Meu Bem
(http://www.answers.com/topic/heitor-dos-prazeres), for Parlophon,
and the marchinha "As Lavadeiras (Orestes Barbosa/Nássara). A
fighter for the cause of an indigenous Brazilian language, he
inspired Noel Rosa to write the samba "Não Tem Tradução (1933). In
that year, he also wrote "Positivismo" with Rosa, which was
recorded by the latter for Columbia. The samba "Caixa Econômica"
with Nássara was recorded by João Petra de Barros and Luís Barbosa
through Victor. In the same year, he released his book Samba,
consisting in chronicles that portrayed the ascension of the urban
samba. In 1934, http://www.answers.com/topic/francisco-alves
recorded for Odeon the marcha "Há Uma Forte Corrente Contra Você"
and for Victor "A Mulher Que Ficou Na Taça," "Romance," and "Adeus"
(all by http://www.answers.com/topic/francisco-alves/Orestes
Barbosa). In the same year, he wrote with Nonô the canção "Olga,"
recorded by Castro Barbosa for Odeon. Also in that year, Sílvio
Caldas recorded two of his compositions in partnership with
Barbosa, "Serenata" (for Victor) and "Quase Que eu Disse" (through
Odeon). In 1935, Caldas recorded "Santa De Meus Amores" for Victor
and in the next year, recorded through Odeon "Torturante Ironia."
In 1937, Caldas recorded "Arranha-céu for Odeon and their
masterpiece "Chão de Estrelas." In 1938, Caldas recorded their
"Suburbana," another classic, for Columbia. In the same year, they
wrote "A Ùnica Rima," recorded later by Caldas. Sílvio Caldas was
Barbosa's most frequent collaborator and the serestas written by
the duo helped to inscribe Caldas as a popular interpreter. Barbosa
also had Noel Rosa, http://www.answers.com/topic/wilson-batista
(samba "Cabelo Branco," recorded by Carlos Galhardo for Victor in
1946, and "Abigail," recorded by
http://www.answers.com/topic/orlando-silva for Odeon in 1947),
Nonô, J. Thomaz, http://www.answers.com/topic/francisco-alves
("Dona da Minha Vontade"), Valzinho ("Óculos Escuros, recorded in
1955 by Zezé Gonzaga and re-recorded by
http://www.answers.com/topic/paulinho-da-viola-1 in 1971),
http://www.answers.com/topic/cust-dio-mesquita (the samba-choro
"Flauta, Cavaquinho e Violão," recorded by Araci de Almeida for
Odeon in 1946), and http://www.answers.com/topic/ataulfo-alves
(samba "O Negro E O Café," recorded by Ataulfo for Victor in 1945)
as partners, among others. ~ Alvaro Neder, All Music Guide