They Shot the Piano Player

It's 2010 and Jeff Harris, a journalist from New York, has just published a piece in The New Yorker on the 50 years of Bossa Nova. Jessica, an enthusiastic editor who is captivated by the article, suggests that he write a book about this influential musical movement that revolutionized music in Brazil and around the world during the early 1960s. While researching his new project, Jeff stumbles upon a pianist previously unknown to him: Tenório Jr. He begins to investigate and discovers that the pianist has not produced or recorded any music for over thirty years. He assumes that he must've died the way most of the musicians did back in the 70s: drugs or an accident while on tour… He travels to Rio de Janeiro to continue his research on Bossa Nova where he meets musicians of all generations, from the survivors of the Bossa Nova era to the younger talents who continue to shape its legacy. But the story of Tenório Jr. constantly intertwines with his journey. He discovers that Tenório disappeared in Buenos Aires during a tour on which he accompanied the great musical poet Vinicius de Moraes, and that Tenório was tortured and killed, and his body never found. He was 35 years old and was at that time one of the most brilliant instrumentalists of Brazilian music. The mystery surrounding Tenório's tragic fate and the quality of his music eventually seduces Jeff. He continues to work on his book on Bossa Nova, but the story of Tenório does not leave him for a moment. Most of the musicians he meets and interviews were acquaintances, friends, and admirers of Tenório. The oblivion enveloping Tenório's story has not managed to erase him from the memory of those who knew him.