Paulinho Nogueira stood out as a virtuosic performer who brought an unmistakably Brazilian character to refined acoustic guitar work on the violão. His approach set him apart because jazz played no role in shaping his music, in contrast to the majority of Brazil’s leading guitar virtuosos. Samba interpretations often highlighted his bold, unrestrained technique, yet he gravitated most naturally toward the longstanding Brazilian practice of sorrowful, gentle, and finely shaded renditions where altered chords hold little importance. Over five decades he released twenty-seven solo albums and carried his violão to audiences across the globe.
He took up the violão while still young and, at age eleven, entered the group Kacique led by his older brother Celso Mendes. After completing high school he moved in 1950 to São Paulo, where he performed nightly at clubs including Itapoã and appeared as a soloist on radio stations Bandeirante and Gazeta. His debut LP arrived in 1959 on the CBS label. Two honors followed in quick succession: the government-sponsored Pinheiro de Ouro trophy from Paraná in 1964 and again the next year. Throughout the bossa nova era he worked steadily both alone and as an accompanist, and he took part in the landmark May 25, 1964 concert O Fino da Bossa—later issued as an album—sharing the stage with Alaíde Costa, Zimbo Trio, Oscar Castro-Neves and additional artists. That event led to a weekly television program of the same name on TV Record, hosted by Elis Regina and Jair Rodrigues, on which Nogueira served as a regular accompanist. The live broadcasts drew the era’s largest audiences and yielded seven LPs, subsequently reissued on CD. His samba “Menino, Desce Daí” reached listeners nationwide through the television exposure and became his first major hit across Brazil. Music journalists and critics presented him with the Prêmio Guarani in 1966.
A method book for the violão appeared in 1968 and eventually ran through more than twenty editions. The following year he unveiled his design for a twelve-string instrument he named the craviola, fusing the tonal qualities of the harpsichord (cravo) and the Brazilian viola; Gianinni undertook production and continues to distribute substantial quantities worldwide. O Estado de São Paulo named him Best Musician of the Year in 1969. His composition “Menina” climbed to number one on Brazil’s Top Ten in 1970 and also succeeded in Italy and France. He performed at Cuba’s Carifesta in 1979. The Tons e Semitons series of violão solos, issued with accompanying sheet music, came out in 1986. Four years later he introduced Violão em Harmonia, Brazil’s first music-education video, which was soon followed by four additional titles. He appeared at the International Guitar Festival in Italy in 1991. The next year he took part in the Guitars in Concert series staged in Naples, Florence, Campobasso, Milan, and Rome alongside guitarists Gianni Oalazzo, Jorge Morel, and Joe Pass; Movie Play released his CD Late Night Guitar that same year. For the same label he issued Coração Violão in 1995. Featured in Guitar Player magazine in 1996, he also joined the nationwide Brasil Musical tour with Arthur Moreira Lima, Egberto Gismonti, André Geraissati, Altamiro Carrilho, and Wagner Tiso. Further recordings included Reflections in 1999, a 2000 edition of Late Night Guitar, and the 2003 collection Primeiras Composicoes devoted to songs by Chico Buarque. Nogueira died of a heart attack at his home in Sao Paulo on August 2, 2003.
