Biography
Dorival Caymmi (April 30, 1914 – August 16, 2008) was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actor, and painter whose career spanned over 70 years starting in 1933. He played a key role in the emergence of Brazil's bossa nova movement, and several of his samba compositions like "Samba da Minha Terra," "Doralice," and "Saudade da Bahia" have become essential pieces of música popular brasileira. He is also well-known for ballads honoring the fishermen and women of Bahia, including "Promessa de Pescador," "O Que É Que a Baiana Tem?," and "Milagre." Throughout his life, Caymmi wrote around 100 songs, many of which are now regarded as Brazilian classics. His music has been covered by both Brazilian and international artists.
Ben Ratliff of The New York Times described Caymmi as "perhaps second only to Antônio Carlos Jobim in establishing a songbook of [the 20th] century's Brazilian identity." His songs about the people and culture of Bahia shaped Brazil’s image domestically and internationally. Caymmi was married to Brazilian singer Stella Maris for 68 years. Their children—Dori, Danilo, and Nana—are also celebrated musicians who began their careers performing with their father on stage and in recordings. In 2014, his granddaughter Alice launched her own musical career.
Born in Salvador, Bahia, Caymmi was the son of Durval Henrique Caymmi, a great-grandson of an Italian immigrant, and Aurelina Soares Caymmi, a native of Bahia. He had three younger siblings: sisters Dinahir and Dinah, and brother Deraldo. His father, a civil servant, frequently played piano, guitar, and mandolin at home, while his mother sang often. Caymmi sang in his church choir during much of his youth. At 13, he left school to work as a journalist for the Bahian newspaper O Imparcial. After the paper closed two years later, he worked as a street vendor.
Although he never received formal music training, Caymmi learned to play guitar on his own in the late 1920s and began composing, singing, and performing his own songs on Bahian radio around 1930. He gained widespread attention in 1933 by composing "O Que É Que a Baiana Tem?" ("What Is It About Bahian Women?") for singer Carmen Miranda. In 1936, at age 22, he won a songwriting contest at Salvador’s annual Carnaval, earning a pink satin lampshade as a prize. Despite his early musical achievements, he moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1938 intending to study law and return to journalism. While working at the newspaper Diários Associados, he spent his free time composing and singing on the radio program Dragão da Rua Larga, where his popularity grew steadily.
