Born in 1950 in São Paulo, Brazil, Eduardo Gudin is a composer, guitarist, and arranger whose career in Brazilian popular music spans more than six decades. He began his artistic career at the age of 16 and has since established himself as one of the leading figures in the São Paulo samba tradition and one of Brazil’s most respected composers. His distinctive body of work is shaped by samba, bossa nova, choro, and other Brazilian musical genres.

 

Gudin has collaborated with many of the leading figures in Brazilian popular music, and his compositions have been recorded by artists from several generations and musical backgrounds. His long-standing partnership with lyricist J.C. Costa Netto has resulted in many of his best-known songs, including Verde, Paulista, and Samba de Verdade.

 

Real Samba is Gudin’s 19th album and the realization of a long-held dream: to make his songs accessible to an English-speaking audience while preserving the character and spirit of the originals. The album presents songs from different periods of his career, sung in both English and Portuguese, bringing together familiar compositions, rarities, and previously unreleased material. American singer-songwriter Marsha Furutani wrote the English lyrics, with the exception of Green Times, the English version of Verde, co-written by Furutani and J. C. Costa Netto and chosen to open the album.

 

For the project, Gudin invited Brazilian singer and pianist Naila Gallotta, who plays a central role throughout the album on vocals and piano. Furutani also joins Gallotta vocally on several songs. The instrumental ensemble brings together three highly regarded Brazilian musicians: drummer Edu Ribeiro, bassist Jorge Helder, and percussionist Léo Rodrigues. Acclaimed Brazilian singer Renato Braz also appears on Green Times. Together, they create a setting that allows Gudin’s melodies and harmonies to speak in a new language without losing their Brazilian roots.

 

Across its 13 tracks, Real Samba offers both an introduction to Gudin’s music and a new perspective on a career centered on the art of the song. It is an invitation to hear the work of a Brazilian composer through another language—and to discover how much of a song’s character can travel beyond its original words.