Nelson Sargento

Nelson Sargento has composed more than 400 songs, among them the enduring standards “Samba, Agoniza Mas Não Morre,” which Beth Carvalho recorded in 1978, and “Cântico à Natureza/Quatro Estações do Ano” (“Primavera”). His connection to samba reaches back to 1934, when, at the age of ten, he marched with the Azul e Branco samba school. He belonged to the collective A Voz do Morro and appeared on its albums alongside Paulinho da Viola, Zé Kéti, Elton Medeiros, Jair da Costa, Anescarzinho, and José da Cruz. With Cartola, Carlos Cachaça, Daniel Gonzaga, and Darcy da Mangueira he created a series of landmark sambas; four of these—“Nas Asas da Canção” (co-written with Ivone Lara), “Falso Amor Sincero,” “Vai Dizer a Ela” (with Carlos Marreta), and “Idioma Esquisito”—achieved notable success. His earliest samba-enredo, “Rio São Francisco,” written with Alfredo Português, was presented for Mangueira in 1948. Another Mangueira entry, “Cântico à Natureza,” judged one of the ten finest sambas the school ever fielded, was fashioned with his stepfather Alfredo Português and Jamelão, earned second place at the 1955 Carnival, and was later recorded by Jamelão to wide acclaim. In 1965 Sargento took part in the historic Rosa de Ouro productions and also performed and recorded with Os Cinco Crioulos. His international activity commenced in 1990 with an initial journey to Japan, where he subsequently recorded and issued several albums. Working as a primitivist painter, he has mounted numerous solo exhibitions, authored the books Prisioneiro do Mundo and Um certo Geraldo Pereira, and appeared on screen in O Primeiro Dia (Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas), the prize-winning documentary Nelson Sargento da Mangueira (Estevão Pantoja), Orfeu do Carnaval (Cacá Diegues), and additional films.