Aldir Blanc Mendes (2 September 1946 – 4 May 2020) was a Brazilian author of ''

crônica ''Crônica'' or ''crónica'' (''chronicle''; see spelling differences in Portuguese) is a Portuguese-language form of short writings about daily topics, published in newspaper or magazine columns. ''Crônicas'' are usually written in an informal, ...

s'' (journalistic vignettes, chronicles) and lyricist. He co-composed many songs with singer-songwriter

João Bosco João Bosco de Freitas Mucci, known professionally as João Bosco () is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist. In the 1970s he established his reputation in ''música popular Brasileira'' (Portuguese: "Brazilian pop music") with lyricist ...

, guitarist

Guinga Guinga (''Carlos Althier de Souza Lemos Escobar''; born June 10, 1950) is a Brazilian guitarist and composer born in Madureira, a working-class suburb of Rio de Janeiro. As a child, he was nicknamed "Gringo", because of his pale skin, and the art ...

, and others.

Career

He trained as a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their ...

at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, graduating in 1971. Eventually he quit medical practice and devoted all his time to music.

Elis Regina Elis Regina Carvalho Costa (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 2002), known professionally as Elis Regina (), was a Brazilian singer of MPB and jazz music. She is also the mother of the singers Maria Rita and Pedro Mariano. She became nationall ...

recorded several of his songs, most notably "O bêbado e a equilibrista". Another song of his is "Resposta ao tempo" (with lyrics by

Cristovão Bastos Cristovão da Silva Bastos Filho (born December 3, 1946) is a Brazilian songwriter, pianist and arranger. He has performed and composed for artists including Maria Bethânia, Milton Nascimento, Gal Costa, Ivan Lins, Barbra Streisand, Dionne ...

), a ballad that became one of Nana Caymmi's most famous songs, and which was recorded by many other musicians thereafter, amongst them

Milton Nascimento Milton Nascimento (; born October 26, 1942), also known as Bituca, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has toured across the world. Nascimento has won five Grammy Awards, including Best World Music Album for his al ...

and Aldir Blanc himself. Blanc's work 1972–1987 was analyzed by Charles A. Perrone in ''Masters of Contemporary Brazilian Song MPB 1965–1985'' (U Texas P, 1989).

Death

Blanc died at a hospital in Rio de Janeiro of complications from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil The COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Brazil on 25 February 2020, when a man from São Paulo who had traveled to Italy tested positive for the virus. ...

on 4 May 2020, at the age of 73.Aldir Blanc, Lyricist Who Pushed Samba's Boundaries, Dies at 73
/ref>

Discography

*1977: ''Disco De Ouro'' (with

) *1984: ''Aldir Blanc & Maurício Tapajós'' *1996: ''50 Anos'' *2005: ''Vida Noturna''

References

External links

Dicionário Cravo Albin – Aldir Blanc
* Brazilian male composers Musicians from Rio de Janeiro (city) 1946 births 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Rio de Janeiro (state) Latin music songwriters {{Brazil-musician-stub