Tom Zé
11/10/1936
Composer, singer, arranger and actor, born in Irará (countryside of Bahia, Northeast Brazil), Tom Zé is one of the most original and controversial characters in Brazilian music. He fell in love with music by listening to the radio, and decided he would go to college in Salvador (state capital) to study it. There, he attended classes by Koellreuter, Smetak and Ernst Widmer, practicing harmony, composition, piano and cello. In the early 60s, he met with Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso e Maria Bethânia, forming a group to present the shows "Nós, Por Exemplo" and "Velha Bossa Nova e Nova Bossa Velha". With them, he headed to São Paulo, contributing with his song "Parque Industrial" to "Tropicália ou Panis et Circensis", released by Phillips in 1968 and key-record for the tropicalist movement. That same year he was placed second in a music festival, proceeding to make his first solo album, "Tom Zé", and a number of other releases during the 70s. His 1973 LP, "Todos os Olhos", was considered way too innovative and unwelcome, drifting Tom Zé away from the Brazilian media, in spite of the huge success his northeastern fellows enjoyed. He produced less hyped albums, like "Correio da Estação do Brás" (1978) and "Nave Maria" (1984). By the late 80s, his career shifted when David Byrne found a pearl on a second-hand music shop: "Estudando o Samba", an album in which Tom Zé (with partners like Elton Medeiros) shakes the structures of samba. Fascinated, Byrne decided to introduce the composer to the international market through his (then) newborn label, Luaka Bop. The album "The Best of Tom Zé", released by Byrne in 1990, was critically acclaimed, making it into a Rolling Stone list of 10 best records of the decade. He successfully toured the US and Europe along the 90s, but that impact was felt in Brazil only in 1999, when he released the CD "Com Defeito de Fabricação". It was time for Tom Zé to take it up on the Brazilian music scene. "Mã", "Um 'Oh!' e um 'Ah!'", "Nave Maria", "Cademar" and "Xiquexique" are some of his best known songs.
Discography
Discos de carreira
Extras
PARABELO - Trilha Sonora da Cia. de Dança Grupo Corpo - TOM ZÉ E JOSÉ MIGUEL WISNIK
Continental/Warner Music - 1994
Coletâneas
Remixes
Caixas/2 em 1
Livro
TROPICALISMO DECADENCIA BONITA DO SAMBA
Tropicália: a História de uma Revolução Musical
Interpretação
Stories