Jorge Aragão, a sambista nurtured in Rio’s longstanding traditional enclaves, has spent the past twenty-five years shaping his professional trajectory. Ney Matogrosso, Alcione, Beth Carvalho, Emílio Santiago, Elza Soares, Sandra Sá, Zeca Pagodinho, Elizeth Cardoso, Martinho da Vila, Grupo Fundo de Quintal, and Roberto Ribeiro number among the interpreters who have committed his songs to disc. Across more than twelve albums he has released, the live set Jorge Aragão Ao Vivo reached one million copies sold and earned double-platinum certification. In the 1970s a fresh cohort of composers and instrumentalists surfaced in the Carioca suburb of Ramos, reshaping the practices of samba de mesa and partido alto. Meeting beneath a venerable, massive tamarind tree, the musicians acquired the designation “generation born at the shadow of the Ramos tamarind.” Bolstered by established figures such as Martinho da Vila, Monarco, Nei Lopes, Beth Carvalho, and the bloco Neoci (known as Bloco do Cacique), newcomers including Arlindo Cruz and the other future members of Fundo de Quintal, Zeca Pagodinho, Marquinhos de Oswaldo Cruz, and Jorge Aragão himself entered the roda de samba creative circle. Aragão advanced as an emerging performer by singing in Rio bars and nightclubs until 1977, when his 1967 composition “Malandro,” written with Jotabê, achieved success through Elza Soares. His earliest recording took place as part of the original formation of Grupo Fundo de Quintal, which arose from the Carnival bloco Cacique de Ramos. In 1982 he issued his debut solo album, Jorge Aragão (Ariola), followed the next year by Verão. Signing with RGE in 1986 produced the albums Coisa de Pele, Raiz e Flor, A Seu Favor, Chorando Estrelas, Um Jorge, and Acena. Beyond Brazil, Aragão is known through “Malandro” and Beth Carvalho’s version of “Coisinha Do Pai.” He has made two U.S. tours, the first visiting Miami, Orlando, and Washington, D.C., and the second performing in Washington, D.C., Miami, Orlando, and New York.
