Os Cinco Crioulos

Despite its brief existence, Os Cinco Crioulos earned a lasting place among samba’s essential acts. Assembled from musicians previously active in A Voz do Morro and the ensemble assembled for the landmark production Rosa de Ouro, the quintet brought Mauro “Bolacha” Duarte in to take the spot left by Paulinho da Viola, with Anescar do Salgueiro, Jair do Cavaquinho, Nelson Sargento, and Elton Medeiros completing the lineup. Their first of three Odeon releases, Samba... No Duro, appeared in 1967 and mixed original material, the historic “Pelo Telefone” (Donga/Mauro de Almeida), compositions by other leading samba authors, and sambas-enredo. Samba... No Duro, Vol. 2 followed the next year, with Os Cinco Crioulos arriving in 1969. The members reconvened in 1990—absent Mauro Duarte, who had passed away the previous year—for a TV Cultura Ensaio program honoring Paulinho da Viola, and a collection of the three albums later surfaced in the Raízes do Samba series in 2000.