"Ela é Carioca" ("She’s a Carioca") is a

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

song composed in 1963 by

Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered one of the great exponents of Brazilian mu ...

, with Portuguese lyrics by

Vinícius de Moraes Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed O Poetinha ("The little poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwright ...

. English lyrics were written by

Ray Gilbert Ray Gilbert (September 5, 1912 – March 3, 1976) was an American lyricist. He grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. Career Gilbert is best remembered for the lyrics to the Oscar-winning song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from the film ''Song of the South'', w ...

. The song is sometimes titled "Ele é Carioca (He’s a Carioca)." "

Carioca Carioca ( or ) is a demonym used to refer to anything related to the City of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. The original meaning of the term is controversial, maybe from Tupi language "''kari' oka''", meaning "white house" as the whitewashed stone ...

" is a Brazilian term for someone from or something related to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. John Bush at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

calls the song "a cheerful sequel to '

The Girl From Ipanema "Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema") is a Brazilian bossa nova and jazz song. It was a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s and won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Por ...

,'" which was also written by Jobim and Moraes, and features lyrics about a young woman from Rio. The song was used as the name of a 2005

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about "Jobim's love for Rio de Janeiro and the influence it had on his music" - ''Tom Jobim: She’s a Carioca.'' The first recording of the song was by

Os Cariocas Os Cariocas are a Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fi ...

in 1963.SecondHandSongs - Ela é Carioca
/ref> Antônio Carlos Jobim recorded it for his 1965 album, ''

The Wonderful World of Antonio Carlos Jobim ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

.''

Recorded Versions

- ''Mais Bossa Com Os Cariocas'' (1963) *

Rosinha de Valença Maria Rosa Canelas (July 30, 1941 – June 10, 2004), better known as Rosinha de Valença, was a Brazilian composer, arranger and musician. She is considered one of the best acoustic guitarists in Brazilian music and played with many famous artis ...

– ''Apresentando'' (1963) *

Marcos Valle Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Nélson Marcos, Portugue ...

- ''Samba "Demais"'' (1963) *

Eumir Deodato Eumir Deodato de Almeida (; born 22 June 1942) is a Brazilian pianist, composer, arranger and record producer, primarily in jazz but who has been known for his eclectic melding of genres, such as pop, rock, disco, rhythm and blues, classical, ...

- ''Inútil Paisagem - As Maiores Composições de Antonio Carlos Jobim'' (1964) * Sergio Mendes & Bossa Rio – ''Você Ainda Não Ouviu Nada!'' (1964) *

Paul Winter Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He is a pioneer of world music and earth music, which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and world music. The ...

, w/

Luiz Bonfa Luiz is a Portuguese given name that is an alternative form of Luís. It's archaic in Portugal, but common in Brazil. Notable people referred to by this name include the following: People *Luiz Bonfá (1922-2001), Brazilian guitarist and composer ...

Roberto Menescal Roberto Menescal (born October 25, 1937) is a Brazilian composer, record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and pioneer of bossa nova. In many of his songs there are references to the sea, including his best-known composition "O Barquinho" ("Little Bo ...

Luiz Eça Luiz Mainzi da Cunha Eça (April 3, 1936 – May 24, 1992) was a samba and bossa nova pianist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who was a member of the Tamba Trio with Helcio Milito and Bebeto Castilho. Trained as a classical pianist, Eça create ...

– ''Rio'' (1964) *

Milton Banana Milton Banana (born Antônio de Souza) (23 April 1935 – 22 May 1999) was a Brazilian bossa nova and jazz drummer. A self-taught musician, he is best known for his collaboration with João Gilberto and Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1 ...

– ''Milton Banana Trio'' (1965) *

- ''

'' (1965) * Sergio Mendes Trio, with

Wanda de Sah Wanda is a female given name of Polish origin. It probably derives from the tribal name of the Wends.Campbell, Mike"Meaning, Origin, and History of the Name Wanda."''Behind the Name.'' Accessed on August 12, 2010. The name has long been popular in ...

– ''Brasil '65'' (1965) *

Astrud Gilberto Astrud Gilberto (; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, March 29, 1940) is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She gained international attention in the 1960s following her recording of the song "The Girl from Ipanema". Biography Astrud Gilbert ...

– ''

Look to the Rainbow "Look to the Rainbow" is a song written by Burton Lane and Yip Harburg for the musical ''Finian's Rainbow'', where it was introduced by Ella Logan Ella Logan (born Georgina Armour Allan; 6 March 1913 – 1 May 1969) was a Scottish-American ac ...

'' (1966) *

Buddy Greco Armando Joseph "Buddy" Greco (August 14, 1926 – January 10, 2017) was an American jazz and pop singer and pianist who had a long career in the US and UK. His recordings have sold millions, including "Oh Look A-There Ain't She Pretty", " Up, Up ...

– ''Away, We Go!'' (1966) *

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet (incl ...

– ''

New Mann at Newport ''New Mann at Newport'' is a 1967 album by jazz flutist Herbie Mann. The full title on the cover is ''New Mann at Newport: Herbie Mann Returns to the Newport Jazz Festival & Plays She's a Carioca/All Blues/Project S/Scratch/Summertime''. All but ...

'' (1967) *

Stanley Turrentine Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note label from 1960, touched on jazz fusion dur ...

– ''

A Bluish Bag ''A Bluish Bag'' is an album by jazz saxophonist Stanley Turrentine consisting of two sessions recorded for the Blue Note label in 1967 and arranged by Duke Pearson, the first featuring Donald Byrd and the second McCoy Tyner, among others. Recep ...

'' (rec. 1967, released 2007) *

Walter Wanderley Walter Wanderley (born Walter Jose Wanderley Mendonça, May 12, 1932 – September 4, 1986) was a Brazilian organist and pianist, best known for his lounge music, lounge and bossa nova music and for his instrumental version of the song ''Summer ...

- ''Batucada'' (1967) *

João Gilberto João Gilberto (born João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira – ; 10 June 1931 – 6 July 2019) was a Brazilian guitarist, singer and composer who was a pioneer of the musical genre of bossa nova in the late 1950s. Around the world, he was o ...

– ''

João Gilberto en México ''João Gilberto en México'', (Also Ela é Carioca) is a 1970 album by João Gilberto. Purportedly, after living in the United States, where he recorded the landmark Getz/Gilberto, among other works, João stayed in Mexico for what ended up being ...

'' (1970) *

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

- ''

Ella Abraça Jobim ''Ella Abraça Jobim'' or ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook'' is a 1981 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald, devoted to the songs of Antônio Carlos Jobim. It was reissued on CD in 1991, although the CD version does not inclu ...

'' (1981) – as "He’s a Carioca (Ele é Carioca)" *

Eliane Elias Eliane Elias
BrowseBiography.com, 20 November 2011; retrieved 10 September 2014. is a Brazilian jazz pianist, sin ...

- ''

Eliane Elias Sings Jobim ''Eliane Elias Sings Jobim'' is the thirteenth studio album by Brazilian jazz artist Eliane Elias. It was released on July 28, 1998 via Blue Note label. This is her second album solely dedicated to the works of Antônio Carlos Jobim after '' Elia ...

'' (1998) *

João Donato João Donato de Oliveira Neto is a Brazilian jazz and bossa nova pianist from Brazil. He first worked with Altamiro Carrilho and went on to perform with Antonio Carlos Jobim and Astrud Gilberto. Career A professional at the age of 15, Donato pla ...

– ''Só danço samba'' (1999) * Quarteto Jobim Morelenbaum - ''Quarteto Jobim Morelenbaum'' (2000)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ela e Carioca Ella Fitzgerald songs Songs with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim Songs with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes Songs about Rio de Janeiro (city) Bossa nova songs Brazilian songs 1963 songs