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Carlos Barbosa-Lima

Born on December 17, 1944 in São Paulo, Brazil, Carlos Barbosa-Lima grew up in the Brooklyn district of the city. He states that he began playing guitar when he was seven.

Barbosa-Lima recalls that his father, Manuel Carlos, hired an instructor to teach him how to play guitar. The lessons were then transferred from the father to the son, and the child became known in the neighborhood as a prodigy. After two years of lessons with Benedito Moreira, the young man was introduced to Brazilian guitarist composer Luiz Bonfá. Under the recommendation of Bonfa, Barbosa-Lima was directed to Isaias Savio, the father of the classical guitar school of Brasil. At the behest of family, friends, and acquaintances, he made his concert debut in Sao Paulo in November 1957 when he was twelve years old. During the next year, he performed on a television variety show that introduced young musicians and gave a solo concert in Rio de Janeiro. He signed a contract with Chantecler, which was part of RCA Brazil, and in June 1958 he released his first album, Dez Dedos Magicos Num Violão De Ouro.

In 1960 Barbosa-Lima began the life of a traveling musician, touring in Montevideo, Uruguay, and eastern Brazil. He made his American debut in Washington, D.C, in 1967. He toured through the U.S. and Central and South America. Barbosa-Lima was now making his own arrangements for guitar. In 1964 he released an album of arrangements by the popular Brazilian songwriter, Catullo. Friends of Barbosa-Lima heard these arrangements and encouraged him to continue arranging for guitar.

In 1967 Barbosa-Lima gave his New York debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (then known as Carnegie Recital Hall). This concert was met once again with excellent reviews and moved his career onto the global concert stage. In 1968 he went to Madrid to play for Andrés Segovia. After returning two years later, he gave a concert in New York's Town Hall. At the conclusion of this concert, he was approached by Harold Shaw and Shaw Concerts who offered him a steady stream of concert dates within the United States. With the heavy concert schedule and Masterclasses now available to him through Shaw Concerts Barbosa-Lima took a teaching position at Carnegie Mellon University (1974–1978). It was during this time that Barbosa-Lima's reputation as a world-class guitarist began to blossom and composers began writing works for him. One very important composer of this time was Alberto Ginastera who composed the Sonata for guitar, op. 47 for Barbosa-Lima. The latter end of the decade (1977) saw Barbosa-Lima perform Francisco Mignone's Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Carlos Barbosa-Lima: Merengue

by Raul d'Gama Rose
January 24, 2010

Carlos Barbosa-Lima Merengue Zoho Music 2009There is distinct nobility surrounding the virtuosity of guitarist Carlos Barbosa-Lima. His South American sojourn, Merengue, presents sweeping vistas and myriad emotions described with degrees of technical superiority only a few other musicians have achieved. Unfortunately, Barbosa-Lima's reputation has not kept pace with his magnificent musicianship. But with this disc, he makes more than a double-leap forward. Not only does Merengue do great things ...

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Album Review

Carlos Barbosa-Lima: Merengue

Read "Merengue" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza

by Jerry D'Souza
November 16, 2009

Guitarist Carlos Barbosa-Lima has been enchanting listeners for over 50 years. During that time he has made his mark in live performances, as well as the 50 albums he has released. His sense of rhythm and melody, time and pulse, and his ability to enhance the mood through dynamics and harmony give his music an incipient beauty.

The music of South America speaks several native languages. Barbosa-Lima, a luminous interpreter of the norms, lets that shine through in solo as ...

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Album Review

Carlos Barbosa-Lima: Carioca

Read "Carioca" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza

by Jerry D'Souza
March 14, 2006

Carlos Barbosa-Lima has the ability to enrich a song with remarkable grace. He makes each one sing eloquently, bringing out its inherent beauty, not hurrying his passage as he lights a spark underneath. While his technique is undeniable, his creativity is the trump card.

Barbosa-Lima's choice of tunes on Carioca is judicious. He draws from a lineage of Brazilian masters, as well as his contemporaries, using solo, duo and trio settings to project his craft. He builds a ...

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Album Review

Carlos Barbosa-Lima: Carioca

by Jim Santella
February 5, 2006

As guitarist Carlos Barbosa-Lima interprets the songs of Central and South American composers both classic and contemporary, he creates a lovely album of soft, tropical harmony. Ethereal in its mood and graceful in its dancing rhythms, Carioca represents a casual panorama of Rio de Janeiro.

In Barbosa-Lima's hands, the acoustic guitar carries a wide-ranging expression that allows him to persuade convincingly without ever raising his “voice. Samba de Orfeu takes us for a leisurely stroll along amicable city ...

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Album Review

Carlos Barbosa-Lima: Frenesi

by John Kelman
August 3, 2004

When classical performers tackle material from the jazz world, the result can often be something less than one would hope for. The more stringent and what some might call restricted range of interpretation leave little room for overt improvisation. Instead it's all about subtlety, dynamics and delicate phrasing. Consequently, all too often, when a classical player approaches jazz material, the interpretation sounds stiff and unmoving.

Not so with Carlos Barbosa-Lima, who has studied with, amongst others, Andres Segovia; but in ...

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Album Review

Carlos Barbosa-Lima: Natalia

Read "Natalia" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
April 10, 2003

Guitarist Carlos Barbosa-Lima’s previous Khaeon release, Mambo No. 5 was touted as one of the best releases of 2001. Mr. Barbosa-Lima opts for a smaller group this time, performing many of the selections solo or in duet with fellow label-mates John Benitez or Gustavo Colina on bass. Natalia picks up where Mambo No.5 left off, pursing a twentieth-century repertoire from Central and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean. The common uniting element is, of course, the selection’s heavily Latin character. ...

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Album Review

Carlos Barbosa-Lima: Mambo No. 5

Read "Mambo No. 5" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
September 1, 2001

The Ghost of Segovia with a Chianti buzz.

The 56-year-old Carlos Barbosa-Lima is a Brazilian national treasure. He has performed and recorded widely the music of this homeland and that of the American Tin Pan Alley. Barbosa-Lima studied under Andres Segovia and Isaias Savio as a child and had his debut at 12 years old. His musical appetite is very broad and he is technically brilliant in most genres he tries. In all cases he has performed with a sensitivity ...

Obituary

Carlos Barbosa-Lima (1944-2022)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 4, 2022

Carlos Barbosa-Lima, a Brazilian child prodigy whose touch and counterpoint on the guitar were virtually unrivaled and who arranged Antonio Carlos Jobim's music for the guitar in the 1980s at Jobim's request, died on February 23. He was 77. Barbosa-Lima began his professional career at age 12. A master of pop interpretation as well as classical guitar, Barbosa-Lima earned his living performing around the world and recording. His arrangements of songs by Brazilian composers, including Jobim and Luiz Bonfá, were ...
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Performance / Tour

Carlos Barbosa-Lima American Music / American Art Lecture and Performance Thursday, April 5th Amon Carter Museum

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
April 3, 2007

American Music / American Art Lecture and performance When: Thursday, April 5, 6 p.m. Where: Amon Carter Museum, 3501 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX Cost: $10 - $12 Age limit: All ages World-class guitarist Carlos Barbosa-Lima will perform the music of George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Scott Joplin, and other American composers to complement the American art of the early twentieth century from the Carter's collection. Rebecca Lawton, curator of paintings and ...
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Performance / Tour

Carlos Barbosa-Lima Only NY Concert Appearance The Dix Hills Center for the Performing Arts Sun, Oct 16th

Source: All About Jazz
October 5, 2005

October 5, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] Carlos Barbosa-Lima Only NY Concert appearance Internationally renowned Brazilian acoustic guitarist Carlos Barbosa Lima will be making his only 2005 New York area appearance – and he will be featuring repertoire from his two recent new ZOHO CD releases “Frenesi" (ZM 200408) and “Siboney" (ZM 200414). Carlos will also perform selections from his next ZOHO CD “Carioca" which will be released in March 2006. Accompanying him ...
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