Biography
Between 1966 and 1968 Ricardo Vilas, then performing as Ricardo Sá, belonged to the vocal quartet Momento 4 alongside Zé Rodrix, Maurício Maestro and David Tygel. The ensemble backed Marília Medalha and Edu Lobo on “Ponteio” at the 1967 Festival da Record. His participation in pro-civil-rights actions under the dictatorship resulted in his 1968 arrest; he was later among the political prisoners released in return for American ambassador Charles Elbrick, who had been abducted by a radical leftist group. Barred from Brazil, he relocated to France and, in 1970, formed the duo Teca & Ricardo with Teca Calazans; the partnership remained active from 1971 through 1981. Following the military’s 1979 amnesty he returned home and, in the mid-eighties, issued Faz-de-Conta, drawn from themes he had written for the TV Globo series Sítio do Pica-Pau Amarelo. Several of his songs and instrumental pieces were subsequently featured in Globo telenovelas such as Roque Santeiro and Selva de Pedra. He moved back to France in 1989, releasing Música Mestiça and touring Europe. From 1995 onward he divided his time between Rio de Janeiro and Paris. In 1998 he brought out his nineteenth album, Bem Brasil, containing fourteen originals that comprised both new compositions and re-recorded earlier successes; the project included appearances by Chico Buarque, Lenine, Joyce, Sá & Guarabyra, Wagner Tiso, Nana Caymmi, Zé Ramalho, Ângela Maria, Flávio Venturini, Zé Renato, his former Momento 4 colleagues Zé Rodrix, Maurício Maestro and David Tygel, as well as Didier Sustrac and several Brazilian artists long resident in Europe yet scarcely known in their native country—Nazaré Pereira, Loalwa Braz of Kaoma and the duo Les Étoiles (Rolando & Luís Antônio).
Albums
