The Gentle Rain is a 1965 bossa nova tune composed by Luiz Bonfá with lyrics by Matt Dubey, originally written in A minor. It was first released as part of the soundtrack for the 1966 film The Gentle Rain, directed by Burt Balaban, with Bonfá as composer and Eumir Deodato as arranger and conductor. Over the years it has become a jazz standard with many instrumental interpretations on albums by artists such as Quincy Jones and His Orchestra on Quincy Plays for Pussycats (1965), Ramsey Lewis on The Movie Album (1966), Joe Pass on Simplicity (1967), George Benson on Beyond the Blue Horizon (1971) and Diana Krall on Love Scenes (1997), among others. Astrud Gilberto recorded the song in 1965 on The Shadow of Your Smile, and Tony Bennett has cited it as one of his favorites and included a version on his 1966 The Movie Song Album with Bonfá on guitar. The tune remains a staple of jazz and bossa nova, celebrated for its lyrical melody and cinematic origins.
