Biography
Osvaldinho da Cuíca collaborated with a wide array of performers including Nelson Gonçalves, Ângela Maria, Adoniran Barbosa, Geraldo Filme, Germano Mathias, Ismael Silva, Nelson Cavaquinho, Cartola, Zé Keti, Nelson Sargento, Elton Medeiros, Clementina de Jesus, Beth Carvalho, D. Ivone Lara, Toquinho e Vinícius, Paulinho da Viola, Martinho da Vila, João Nogueira, Zeca Pagodinho, Lecy Brandão, Eduardo Gudim, Gal Costa, and Daniela Mercury. Outside São Paulo, where he long remained linked to local samba expressions, he gained broader recognition through his tenure with Demônios da Garoa from 1967 to 1999, a period during which the ensemble earned the eighth Sharp prize for Best Samba Group. The União das Escolas de Samba Paulistanas later honored his role in sustaining the samba paulista tradition by bestowing upon him the title Embaixador Nato do Samba Paulista.
By age fifteen he was already performing as a percussionist in the city’s batuques and cordões carnavalescos while helping establish multiple samba schools. He entered the Teatro Popular de Solano Trindade in 1959 and that same year appeared with Monsueto Menezes’s ensemble on the soundtrack for Orfeu Negro, the Cannes Festival and Oscar-winning Best Foreign Film. In 1962 he took the stage alongside Chevalier and Paula do Salgueiro in nightclubs and on television programs. The tourism department of São Paulo named him the city’s first Cidadão Samba in 1974. That year also marked the release of his debut solo album on the Marcus Pereira label. He established the Ala de Compositores at the samba school Vai-Vai in 1975 and had taken part in founding both Gaviões da Fiel in 1974 and Acadêmicos do Tucuruvi in 1976. He produced the first samba-enredo LPs for the cities of São Paulo, Santos, Guaratinguetá, and São Luís do Maranhão.
In 1978 he appeared in Thomas Farkas’s short film tracing the history of the cuíca; international screenings of the work generated offers to perform abroad. He traveled to Japan with Nelson Ayres in 1985 and, two years afterward, joined the Companhia de Franco Fontana for engagements in Italy, France, and Monaco. In 1989 he performed in the United States with Amilson Godoy and Hermeto Paschoal, and a decade later he gave a solo recital at the Amsterdã Samba Meeting in Holland. Also in 1984 he wrote, directed, and staged the musical O Canto dos Escravos, which featured Clementina de Jesus and his longtime associate Geraldo Filme. That same year brought two symphonic appearances: Gerald Thomas’s “Matogrosso” at the Teatro Municipal de São Paulo and a concert with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo at the Memorial da América Latina. In 1997 he contributed to a documentary on Geraldo Filme that won the Third Festival Internacional de Documentários de São Paulo—É Tudo Verdade and received additional honors at the Gramado RS, Brasília DF, and Cuiabá MT festivals. For the 1999 production A História do Samba Paulista I, he authored and directed the accompanying show.
By age fifteen he was already performing as a percussionist in the city’s batuques and cordões carnavalescos while helping establish multiple samba schools. He entered the Teatro Popular de Solano Trindade in 1959 and that same year appeared with Monsueto Menezes’s ensemble on the soundtrack for Orfeu Negro, the Cannes Festival and Oscar-winning Best Foreign Film. In 1962 he took the stage alongside Chevalier and Paula do Salgueiro in nightclubs and on television programs. The tourism department of São Paulo named him the city’s first Cidadão Samba in 1974. That year also marked the release of his debut solo album on the Marcus Pereira label. He established the Ala de Compositores at the samba school Vai-Vai in 1975 and had taken part in founding both Gaviões da Fiel in 1974 and Acadêmicos do Tucuruvi in 1976. He produced the first samba-enredo LPs for the cities of São Paulo, Santos, Guaratinguetá, and São Luís do Maranhão.
In 1978 he appeared in Thomas Farkas’s short film tracing the history of the cuíca; international screenings of the work generated offers to perform abroad. He traveled to Japan with Nelson Ayres in 1985 and, two years afterward, joined the Companhia de Franco Fontana for engagements in Italy, France, and Monaco. In 1989 he performed in the United States with Amilson Godoy and Hermeto Paschoal, and a decade later he gave a solo recital at the Amsterdã Samba Meeting in Holland. Also in 1984 he wrote, directed, and staged the musical O Canto dos Escravos, which featured Clementina de Jesus and his longtime associate Geraldo Filme. That same year brought two symphonic appearances: Gerald Thomas’s “Matogrosso” at the Teatro Municipal de São Paulo and a concert with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo at the Memorial da América Latina. In 1997 he contributed to a documentary on Geraldo Filme that won the Third Festival Internacional de Documentários de São Paulo—É Tudo Verdade and received additional honors at the Gramado RS, Brasília DF, and Cuiabá MT festivals. For the 1999 production A História do Samba Paulista I, he authored and directed the accompanying show.
Albums
O Velho Batuqueiro
2014
Em Referência ao Samba Paulista
2006
Preto no Branco
2006
Clássico Visita o Samba
2004
História do Samba Paulista - I
1999
Singles
