Distinguished composer of the Estácio hill Nilton Bastos had great success with the songs he wrote with Ismael Silva. Several of his songs have other partners besides Ismael Silva, but those were famous or rich persons who either bought his sambas or asked for partnership to record them. Mário Reis, Orestes Barbosa, and Francisco Alves acknowledged "Se Você Jurar" as being written by him alone.

Bastos learned to play the piano by ear and was a frequenter of the rodas de samba since his childhood. At the famous Bar Apolo, in the Estácio hill, he became friends with Baiaco, Bide, Brancura, Ismael Silva, Mano Rubem, and others. The group would take the folkloric samba, which had a strong maxixe accent, and end up with an urban, commercial product. Francisco Alves and Mário Reis, two of the most successful singers of those times, popularized the partnership Nilton Bastos/Ismael Silva, recording songs like "Não Há," "O Que Será de Mim," "Anda, Vem Cá," "Arrependido," "Nem É Bom Falar," and others. Bastos was a member of the group Bambas do Estácio, which accompanied Francisco Alves in his recordings. After his precocious demise, Ismael Silva, Noel Rosa, and Francisco Alves paid tribute to him in the samba "Adeus." ~ Alvaro Neder, Rovi