What prompted pianist and composer Antonio Adolfo to record, in 2025, an album of songs from the 'golden age' of Brazilian carnaval music, circa 1920-1950? He has known and loved this music since he was a child, growing up in Rio de Janeiro. "All these songs are very alive in my memory," he told All About Jazz. They were "everywhere—on the radio, in the streets, in social clubs." At the time, he saw that "there was some magic in the melodies," but he "just listened and sang, same as anybody." Later, as a teenager, he picked the tunes out on the piano, "but never would imagine that one day I would do an album." His first foray into the repertoire resulted in a lovely saudade-filled solo piano album released in Brazil, Carnaval Piano Blues, (Kuarup Discos, 2005), which is no longer in print.

Adolfo's professional life, which began in the early 1960s, is associated with the 'second generation' of bossa nova composers and players, but his discography covers a wide range of Brazilian and jazz idioms, from choro to