The song of the day for Friday, June 6, 2014 is “Samba de Orfeu.”

About This Song

“Samba de Orfeu” was written in 1959 by Luis Bonfá for the 1959 film, Black Orpheus (Orgeu Negro). The film, based on the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, is set in Rio de Janeiro during Carnaval. The film was an international project, with production companies from Brazil, France and Italy. It won the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film, as well as the Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival. In addition to this song from Luiz Bonfá, the film also contained several bossa nova songs from Antonio Carlos Jobim.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Samba de Orfeu” for The Movie Song Album, released in 1966. This song was, as was much of the album, arranged by Johnny Mandel, who wrote several of the songs featured on the album, including “Emily” and “The Shadow Of Your Smile.” The composer Luis Bonfá is featured on guitar for this song.

http://open.spotify.com/track/3OXmkaYkVrJTZqF9VlT3JG
“Samba de Orfeu,” as well as The Movie Song Album, is available from iTunes.