Claudio Zoli

From an early age Cláudio Zoli drew inspiration from Marvin Gaye and Tim Maia while teaching himself to sing and finger an acoustic guitar. At seventeen he joined the group led by his idol Cassiano. Zoli launched Banda Brylho in 1982; the band scored its major success with his own “A Noite Do Prazer,” whose overlapping vocal lines and guitar lines both echoed George Benson’s style. Three years after the ensemble disbanded, Zoli issued his debut solo LP, Livre Para Viver, in 1986. Marina Lima turned “À Francesa,” written by Zoli and Antônio Cícero, into a nationwide hit in 1989, and Elba Ramalho later cut “Felicidade Urgente.” In 1993 he collaborated briefly with Ritchie and Vinícius Cantuária on the album Tigres de Bengala. Returning to the studio after an eight-year absence, Zoli released the reflective, romantic solo set Ferias in 1999, which featured the single “Zoli Show.” That same year he joined Max de Castro, Bukassa, Jairzinho Oliveira, Wilson Simoninha, Tutti Baê, Classe, Silvania Mello, and the Billy Soul Band for São Paulo’s Festival Eu Soul Brasileiro. Also in 2001 Simoninha produced Zoli’s next album.