Los Índios Tabajaras emerged as one of the most singular Brazilian pairings to sustain a lasting global presence, consisting of siblings Antenor Moreyra Lima, known as Muçaperê, and Natalício Moreyra Lima, called Erundi. Early in the 1970s the pair achieved U.S. recognition via the single “Sakura-Sakura,” yet their signature triumph remained the fox trot “Maria Elena,” which reached second position on American charts and moved more than one-and-a-half million units. Across forty-eight LPs the duo moved millions of additional records worldwide while completing engagements throughout South, Central, and North America, as well as Asia and Europe, ultimately choosing the United States as their base. Their programs mixed works by Rimsky-Korsakoff, Chopin, De Falla, and Villa-Lobos with folk melodies and self-composed pieces, alternating between formal tuxedos and traditional indigenous attire. During the 1960s they also enjoyed favorable receptions at Italy’s San Remo Festival.
Entirely self-taught, the brothers first encountered the violão while traversing the interior of Cariri, Ceará, only to exchange the instrument for a pound of beans; both later pursued formal study. Muçaperê subsequently cut the album “Their Very Special Touch” backed by a complete symphonic orchestra and vocal choir. Members of the Tabajara tribe, they departed Ceará alongside their community in 1933, covering nearly two thousand kilometers on foot to reach Rio de Janeiro. Throughout the three-year trek they gathered numerous regional melodies. Upon arrival in Rio they were registered and given Christian names by Lieutenant Hildebrando Moreira Lima. Their initial broadcast appearance occurred in 1945 on Rádio Cruzeiro do Sul in Rio de Janeiro, where they were presented as Índios Tabajaras and promptly engaged by the station. In 1953 Continental issued an album containing Muçaperê’s baião “Tambor Índio” and galope “Acara Cary.” The following year brought popularity with the public-domain polka “Pajaro Campaña.” After further releases, the pair embarked in 1957 on an extended tour of Argentina, Venezuela, and Mexico, where both studied music and Erundi composed several classical guitar works. They next relocated to the United States for a three-year residency, returned to Brazil in 1960, resumed their travels, and settled again in Brazil by 1968 long enough to record a collection of Hawaiian songs before once more relocating to the United States.
