Biography

As a composer, Délcio Carvalho's biggest hit was the samba "Sonho Meu" (with Dona Ivone Lara, his most frequent partner, 1978), recorded by Maria Bethânia, Gal Costa, and Clementina de Jesus. With Dona Ivone Lara, he wrote other classics like "Alvorecer," "Acreditar," "Liberdade," and "Minha Verdade." "Esperanças Perdidas" (with Adeílton Alves de Souza) was recorded in Holland, France, and Sweden in 1972. Carvalho debuted as a singer in his hometown at the Orquestra de Cícero Ferreira. Moving to Rio de Janeiro, he performed in small bars after the day gig. Beginning to write sambas only in the late '50s, he had one of his songs recorded for the first time in 1968: the samba "Pingo de Felicidade," recorded as iê-iê-iê by Christiane. Together with other sambistas, he formed the group Lá Vai Samba in 1969, performing in TV festivals. So far, he has released four albums, which are enjoying crescent visibility: Canto de um Povo (1980), Amar é Sofrer (1988), Afinal (1996) and A Lua e o Conhaque (2000), by CPC-Umes. His songs have been recorded by Família Roitman (in their second album, Coisa da Antiga), Beth Carvalho ("Acreditar," by Dona Ivone Lara/Délcio Carvalho in her Pagode de Mesa, and another one in her first RCA album, Mundo Melhor, 1976), Cristina Buarque (in Resgate), Dona Ivone Lara ("Candeeiro da Vovó," by Dona Ivone/Délcio Carvalho, in Esquina Carioca -- Uma Noite Com a Raiz Do Samba), Zeca Pagodinho ("Nos Combates Desta Vida," by Dona Ivone Lara/Délcio Carvalho, in his Suor No Rosto, 1983), Carmem Queiroz (in her Carmen Queiroz, CPC-UMES), Quinteto em Branco e Preto and others. He also participated in several important albums, like the 1999 CD by the Velha Guarda da Mangueira, together with Dona Ivone Lara, Nelson Sargento, and Wilson Moreira's Okolofé, which was released in Japan and was the theme of the video and conference Puxando Conversa in 1999. ~ Alvaro Neder, Rovi