1989

Luiz Gonzaga was born in the countryside of Pernambuco (Northeastern Brazil) and was personally responsible for the promotion of northeastern music on the rest of the country. Son of a peasant and accordion player, he got interested in the 8-bass accordion since a very young age, but by that time he would help his father by playing the zabumba (type of northeastern bass drum) and singing in parties and religious celebrations. He left home in 1930 to join the army, and traveled around Brazil playing in the army band until 1939. Gonzaga decided to remain in Rio de Janeiro with a recently purchased accordion. He used to perform in the streets and in bars, playing boleros, waltzes and tangos. He then noticed that the northeastern immigrants missed their music, and started giving the listeners what they wanted to hear: xaxados, baiões, chamegos and cocos. At Ary Barroso’s talent show, Luiz Gonzaga played his chamego "Vira e Mexe", being acclaimed by the audience and by the dreadful host, who conceded him the highest score. After discovering this niche in the market, Gonzaga became a regular at radio shows and started making records. In 1943, he performed for the first time dressed up in typical northeastern costumes and got hyped. Later on, he started singing, as well as playing the accordion, and his skills as a composer were revealed. His greatest hit ever, "Asa Branca" (written with Humberto Teixeira), was recorded in 1947 and covered countless times by many different artists. He worked on the radio until 1954, enjoying huge popularity and being a baião and accordion trendsetter, besides having all the machines at RCA working to print his discs, only. After that, as bossa nova ascended, he was forcefully kept away from the big city stages, trading them for the countryside, where his popularity never diminished. In the 70s and 80s, he slowly re-emerged, partly due to covers of his songs made by famous artists like Geraldo Vandré, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, his son Gonzaguinha and Milton Nascimento. "Vozes da Seca", "Algodão", "A Dança da Moda", "ABC do Sertão", "Derramaro o Gai", "A Letra I", "Imbalança", "A Volta da Asa Branca", "Cintura Fina", "O Xote das Meninas", written with Zé Dantas, and "Juazeiro", "Paraíba", "Mangaratiba", "Baião de Dois", "No Meu Pé de Serra", "Assum Preto", "Légua Tirana", "Qui Nem Jiló", written with Humberto Teixeira, are some of his greatest hits. Other successful collaborations resulted in "Tá Bom Demais" (with Onildo de Almeida), "Danado de Bom" (with João Silva), "Dezessete e Setecentos" and "Cortando o Pano" (both with Miguel Lima).