Required Listening: Burnier e Cartier

For years, I’ve told people that Burnier e Cartier is perhaps my favorite album of all time. I’ve always wanted to write about how I discovered it and my deep appreciation for its artistry. However, I’ve been hesitant because the album is entirely in Portuguese, a language I’m not fluent in. I also wasn’t sure if this would fit my usual ‘Required Listening’ format. Is this an album you should have in your musical repertoire? Absolutely. But there’s more to this story.

Despite being sampled by Kaytranada and featured on countless NTS shows, surprisingly little has been written about this duo. In fact, I started learning Portuguese just to try and translate the lyrics, as they aren’t available anywhere online.

For this article, I want to take a different approach —coming from the perspective of a student, learning why she gravitates toward what she loves. Uncovering what my subconscious already knew but has yet to put into words. I’m not exactly sure where this journey will lead, but I hope you enjoy the read. I might even revisit this section once the journey is complete. Who knows?

For now, our next installment of Required Listening features none other than Burnier e Cartier’s self-titled album, released in 1974. 

Brazil Dominated the 1970s

This album’s 12 tracks offer a glimpse into how Brazil dominated the global music scene in the 70s.

The 70s were a time of political unrest, civil rights movements, and growing rebellion among the youth, the poor, and the marginalized. Amid this turbulence, music in the 70s exploded with diversity and experimentation. Brazil was at the forefront, with genres like samba, Tropicália, and Brazilian soul emerging and thriving.

It would be remiss to discuss the influence of Brazilian music without acknowledging the political environment that shaped its evolution. In 1964, Brazilian president João Goulart was overthrown by a military coup. The new regime censored all media, while torturing, killing, or exiling its critics. Artists like Caetano Veloso, a key figure in Brazilian music, were exiled during this dictatorship. This oppressive political backdrop is what Brazilian artists were navigating as they created.

In 1967, a law was passed that encouraged spending on local artists by making it tax-deductible. This law was a double-edged sword. On one hand, record sales surged from 1967 to 1972, as the early 70s became a period of intense experimentation, with bossa nova and Tropicália musicians blending Brazilian and foreign styles. On the other hand, under the dictatorship, Brazilian art was never truly free—it was always subject to censorship.

Releasing music in 70s Brazil was, therefore, an inherently political act.

Despite political pressure, Brazilian music thrived.

The country’s embrace of experimentation propelled artists to centerstage. Artists like Tim Maia, Gilberto Gil, Astrud Gilberto, Azymuth, Marcos Valle, and Luiz Bonfá (more on him later) created music that transcended time and space. A major factor contributing to Brazil's influence in the 70s was the globalization of music, which allowed Brazilian sounds to reach and resonate with international audiences.

Samba, one of Brazil’s biggest exports in the 60s and 70s, greatly influenced American jazz artists like Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, and Don Burrows, who collaborated with Brazilian musicians. Most notably, Stan Getz collaborated with João Gilberto on their 1964 project Getz/Gilberto, which featured the track 'The Girl From Ipanema.' This song became the most exported track from Brazil and ultimately a jazz standard. 

This cross-pollination helped Brazilian artists become household names, especially among affluent white audiences. However, not everyone received the same critical acclaim globally as artists like Getz or Maia. Among those less visible to the masses but highly influential to music enthusiasts were Burnier e Cartier, also known as Luiz Octavio Bonfá Burnier and Claudio Cartier.

Who were Burnier e Cartier

Luiz Octavio Bonfá Burnier, also known as Tavynho Bonfá, was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. According to Discogs, 'Tavynho Bonfá started playing guitar at around seven years old, and from a very early age, he displayed a precocious talent nurtured with the help of his uncle, the legendary artist Luiz Bonfá.'

In 1973, before teaming up with Cartier, he became a member of the group Aquarius, with whom he recorded an album and toured Spain for a year. 

Information about his counterpart Claudio Cartier is more limited. His Discogs bio can be summed up in a few sentences: “ Claudio Cartier was a Brazilian singer. He was born on 25 September 1950 and died on 17 October 2020 at the age of 70.’ However, what his bio fails to mention about him and his life was that Cartier ‘worked in advertising, he was a cartoonist and composed music for the theater.

Burnier e Cartier released two self-titled albums, one in 1974 and another in 1976. According to a YouTube video posted by Tavynho Bonfá in 2021, the idea to create the duo originated when Bonfá returned from Spain at the age of 19, likely after his time with Aquarius. He had been studying acoustics and was “enchanted by the idea” of forming a group. He approached Cartier with the concept, and from that day, Burnier e Cartier was born. Burnier described their partnership as dedicated and disciplined: "We had to study a lot. We didn’t even have lunch; we’d start in the morning and finish in the late afternoon.” From what I can gather, the duo toured once with Don Burrows in 1977. Burnier recalls, "We did a great Australian tour with him, at his invitation, along with the Sydney String Quartet and the Don Burrows Quintet with George Golla.” You can listen to snippets from the Australian tour in the same YouTube link. In it, you can hear the duo, with vocals by Claudio Cartier, singing 'Lembrando Ed Kleiger' from their 1974 project. 

What I haven’t been able to discover is what happened in Australia that led the group to split in 1978. Whatever occurred didn’t stop the duo from making music independently. Cartier released his self-titled album in 1982, while Burnier released two projects in 1979 and 1982.

What about Burnier e Cartier 1974 makes it Required Listening

What makes Burnier e Cartier (1974) ‘Required Listening? I've pondered this for months, and many reasons come to mind—none of which feel exactly right or grand enough on their own.

At first, I thought it was the songwriting: the poetic, romantic lyrics. Songs like 'Lejos De Mi' and 'Parte Capital' are pieces I wish someone had written for me. The beauty of these songs is that I felt their romance long before any lyrics were translated. ‘Lejos De Mi,’ in particular, stands out as it’s the only song on the record sung in Spanish. Its title translates to ‘Away from Me.’ It’s orchestral and delicate, like a flower too beautiful to be picked. One line I could understand from my years of studying Spanish was ‘En tus brazos sentiré,’ or ‘in your arms.’ With help from my friend Eli, I was able to grasp the song’s full beauty and devotion. ‘Parte Capital' was the first song I truly fell in love with on this record and the first I had fully translated. It’s deeply poetic, open to interpretation, yet one thing is unmistakable: the singer views his lover and their love as the most important part of his life.

But as true as this may be, it’s poetic, romantic nature isn’t enough alone to call it Required Listening.

I also considered the role of collaboration and community—and whether that’s worth exploring. The album features numerous collaborators and has been sampled and reinterpreted by various artists, including Don Burrows, Aquarius, and Luiz Bonfá. Songs like ‘Só Tem Lugar Prá Você’ and ‘Europanema’ appear on Aquarius' debut album just two years after Burnier e Cartier (1974). Similarly, on Luiz Bonfá’s 1972 Introspection, you can hear similar chords on the final track, ‘Adventures in Space.’

Initially, I viewed this as a critique—I struggled to trace the roots of the music, wondering who came up with what, when. I saw it as a potential lack of creativity or too many hands on one project. But over time, I’ve come to see this collaboration differently. It feels more like a testament to a truth we all know: music is something that belongs to everyone. 

And that brings me to the real point I’ve been eager to make: accessibility. Accessibility, or the lack of it, might be what makes this record Required Listening. Despite being sampled and occasionally played on platforms like NTS Radio, this album remains largely under the radar. It’s accessible only through scattered traces on YouTube or costly vinyl copies that now sell for over $200. (Fun fact: I own two copies of the first album and one of their rare 1976 release.) Even with my own copies, I find myself wanting more—more details about their lives, why they split after their Australian tour, and what prevented them from achieving wider commercial success.

These lingering questions make me reflect on the importance of preserving the music of our communities. Even with the level of technology and AI that surrounds us in 2024, not a single tool exists to bridge the gaps I felt with this album. There weren’t many places to turn to for understanding more about the duo, their views on Brazilian music in the ’70s, or the inspiration behind their songs. There weren’t any readily available lyrics for me to read, interpret, and help fill in the gaps of information. All that existed were a few YouTube videos, which I’m profoundly thankful for—but this shouldn’t be an issue in 2024.

Music is essential to how we navigate life; it reflects a moment in time and creates an archive for generations to honor. Without that archive, history is lost. 

Meaning is lost. 

Connection is lost. 

What makes this album Required Listening is the belief that it should be remembered, honored, and built upon. It deserves to be discussed more and archived for generations to come. People across the world deserve to have a relationship with, and an understanding of this music.

So here I am —giving roses to the duo that is Burnier e Cartier. Writing about this album in hopes it sparks an interest in you to go listen.

If you decide to give it a listen, hit me up. Let’s chat about it. 

(okay so maybe this is a Required Listening after all)