Carlos Althier de Souza Lemos Escobar, known as Guinga, was born on June 10th, 1950, in Rio de Janeiro. He taught himself the guitar at the age of 13, and began to compose at the age of 16. by the time he was 17 he had already classified his first song in the Festival Internacional da Canção.

As a professional musician he has accompanied such artists as Clara Nunes, Beth Carvalho, Alaíde Costa, Cartola, João Nogueira, and others. Although he graduated from dental school in 1975, he has always been active as a composer. He has had his songs recorded by such important names as Elis Regina, Michel Legrand, Sérgio Mendes, Leila Pinheiro, Chico Buarque, Clara Nunes, Ivan Lins, and others. He has worked as a composer in collaboration with Paulo César Pinheiro, Aldir Blanc, Chico Buarque, and Nei Lopes, among others.

Guinga has recorded 5 CD’s for the Velas label, and all 5 have met with critical success. His CD “Cheio de Dedos” has won prizes for Best Instrumental Album, Best Instrumental Music (Dá o pé Loro), Best Production (Paulo Albuquerque), and the Sharp Prize in 1996.
More recently Guinga released his CD “Cine Baronesa” in April of 2001, to great acclaim from music critics in the Brazilian press, and which competed for a Latin Grammy in the category of Best Brazilian Popular Music CD.