Luiz Henrique Rosa was born on November 25, 1938, in the city of Tubarão, in the southern state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. His parents, Raulino and Alice Rosa, lived in Imbituba, a town without a maternity hospital, so they had to travel to Tubarão for Luiz's birth. Luiz began developing his musical skills by playing percussion instruments until he received a guitar from his father at the age of 18 while living in São José, and he never stopped playing.

 

At 11, Luiz moved with his family to Florianópolis, where he attended Colégio Catarinense and Instituto Estadual de Educação. Luiz always said that Florianópolis was his place and was the first to proudly call himself a "manezinho da ilha," a term previously considered pejorative but which he turned into a symbol of local pride.

Music was Luiz's primary form of expression from the start, though he also had a talent for drawing. At twenty, he was informed by singer Neide Maria Rosa that the director of Rádio Diário da Manhã wanted to hire him. Luiz began working at the radio station, one of the best in southern Brazil at the time, shortly after its inauguration. He soon had his own program where he played his compositions and popular hits, anticipating the "bossa nova" style emerging in Rio de Janeiro with Tom Jobim and João Gilberto. Before composing around 200 songs, Luiz Henrique also performed at parties, bars, and dances.

 

In 1960, pianist Norberto Baldauf invited Luiz to join his ensemble, which had also featured the acclaimed Elis Regina before her rise to fame. Luiz's first recorded song, "Se o amor é isso," was featured on one of Baldauf's albums, a collaboration with Claudio Alvim Barbosa (Zininho).

 

In 1961, Luiz moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he performed in various nightclubs, including the famous Beco das Garrafas in Copacabana. There, he recorded his first single with two songs: "Garota da rua da praia" and "Se o amor é isso." In 1963, he recorded his first LP, "A Bossa Moderna de Luiz Henrique," which became a nationwide success with songs like "Sambou, sambou," "No balanço do mar," and "Vou andar por aí." His first LP was produced by Armando Pittigliani, who had welcomed him to Rio.

 

At the height of bossa nova in Brazil, in 1965, Luiz Henrique moved to the United States. In New York, he collaborated with many great American musicians, such as Stan Getz, Oscar Brown Jr., Billy Butterfield, Bobby Hacket, among others, and with many Brazilian artists like Sivuca, Hermeto Pascoal, Walter Wanderley, João Gilberto, and Airto Moreira. During this time, Luiz composed and recorded numerous songs across various LPs. He also developed a strong friendship with actress and singer Liza Minnelli, who visited Florianópolis in 1979 at Luiz's invitation.

 

Luiz stayed in the US until December 1971, when he returned to his beloved island of Florianópolis. In 1976, he released his final LP, "Mestiço," with tracks recorded in Rio de Janeiro and Hollywood. In 1979, planning a new LP, he recorded unreleased tracks in Curitiba and gave a historic interview that was only published 35 years later.

Tragically, on July 9, 1985, Luiz Henrique died at the age of 46 in a car accident, the same year he would have celebrated 25 years of his artistic career.