Biography
Cláudio Camunguelo, active as a flutist, dancer, and singer who improvises in the partido-alto idiom, steadily cultivated recognition inside samba and choro circles beginning in the 1960s. Wider attention arrived only after he placed second at the Choro Festival of Rio. A self-taught player, he fashioned his own bamboo flute at age sixteen. While employed as a stower and in assorted minor positions, Camunguelo entered music through jingle sessions at Rádio Nacional and went on to compose and arrange pieces entirely by ear. Already an experienced musician when he encountered the sixteen-year-old Zeca Pagodinho, the pair produced their initial samba, “Sinuca de Bico,” followed by “Amarguras,” which they presented at the 1981 Festival of Sambas de Terreiro of Portela. That composition secured the partners’ first significant opportunity, prompting Elza Soares and Fundo de Quintal to seek recordings of it. Following the festival, Camunguelo introduced Pagodinho to Cacique de Ramos, the venue he had attended since 1966; there Beth Carvalho discovered the younger singer and launched his career.
Camunguelo issued a 1984 single pairing “Amarguras” with Jorge Carioquinha’s “Gurufim,” an item now regarded as rare and among the scant releases featuring the flutist-vocalist. Additional appearances include the 1986 compilation Explosão do Pagode, on which he performed his own “Joanita” and “Lá na Favela” (co-written with Valdir Caramba); Só Gafieira by Zé da Velha and Silvério Pontes, where he rendered the choro “Camunguelando”; and A Luz de um Vencedor, Luís Carlos da Vila’s tribute to Candeia, which contains two tracks showcasing Camunguelo on voice and flute. He laid down the tracks for a prospective album at Acari Records, the Carioca imprint devoted to choro and samba, yet as of April 2002 the project remained without a sponsor despite Marisa Monte’s interest. In October 2001 the piece “Zé Galinha,” composed with Sílvio da Silva Jr., earned second place at the inaugural Chorando no Rio, the choro festival of the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Camunguelo issued a 1984 single pairing “Amarguras” with Jorge Carioquinha’s “Gurufim,” an item now regarded as rare and among the scant releases featuring the flutist-vocalist. Additional appearances include the 1986 compilation Explosão do Pagode, on which he performed his own “Joanita” and “Lá na Favela” (co-written with Valdir Caramba); Só Gafieira by Zé da Velha and Silvério Pontes, where he rendered the choro “Camunguelando”; and A Luz de um Vencedor, Luís Carlos da Vila’s tribute to Candeia, which contains two tracks showcasing Camunguelo on voice and flute. He laid down the tracks for a prospective album at Acari Records, the Carioca imprint devoted to choro and samba, yet as of April 2002 the project remained without a sponsor despite Marisa Monte’s interest. In October 2001 the piece “Zé Galinha,” composed with Sílvio da Silva Jr., earned second place at the inaugural Chorando no Rio, the choro festival of the state of Rio de Janeiro.