Tom Zé

Tom Zé launched his professional path in tandem with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, and Maria Bethânia. His songwriting shaped the creative paths of Caetano and numerous colleagues while his own catalog supplied an extensive collection of recordings. An inquiring mind drawn to contemporary classical explorations, he remained overlooked by labels and listeners alike until David Byrne brought him forward. His own formulation captures the stance best: "I don't make art, I make spoken and sung journalism."

Born in the interior of Bahia, Zé absorbed childhood sounds from Jackson do Pandeiro’s cocos, Luiz Gonzaga’s forros, regional folk traditions, Afro-Brazilian sambas de roda, and violeiros’ cantigas, later supplemented by the national hits carried on Rádio Nacional once electricity reached the area after 1949. By 1951 he had moved to Salvador. An indifferent pupil, he found stimulus in the stark pages of Euclides da Cunha’s Os Sertões, whose account of the Canudos campaign offered precise portraits of his Northeastern contemporaries. He later entered the CPC, an organization devoted to popular culture that resisted the military regime through research into folklore and the creation of new work grounded in those findings. After several collaborations with poet José Carlos Capinam on traditional dances such as bumba-meu-boi and chegança, CPC colleagues faulted him for repetition; he rejected the charge with the remark that folklore never changes, yet he enrolled at the Music College of Bahia. Following introductory studies in musical notation, he trained under H.J. Koellreuter in music history, Piero Bastianelli, Walter Smetak on violoncello, Aida Zolinger on piano, Edy Cajueiro on violão, Ernst Widmer in composition, Yulo Brandão in counterpoint, Jamari Oliveira in harmony, Lindembergue Cardoso in instrumentation, and Sérgio Magnani in orchestration.

In 1963 he met Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso in Salvador at the weekly musical gatherings hosted by actress Maria Muniz, which also drew Fernando Lona, Alcyvando Luz, Orlando Senna, Maria Lígia, and Álvaro Guimarães. On 7 September 1964 he made his stage debut in the production Nós por Exemplo No. 2, directed by Caetano and featuring the same circle plus Perna Fróes (then known as Antônio Renato) and percussionist Djalma Corrêa. He soon appeared with the other Bahians in the Nova Bossa Velha -- Velha Bossa Nova revue and, in 1965, in Arena Conta Bahia, which presented his composition with Chico de Assis, “O Cachorro do Inglês.” The show’s success led RCA to offer singles to Caetano, Gil, Bethânia, and Zé; that same year Zé issued his first single, “Maria do Colégio da Bahia.” His “Parque Industrial” appeared on the Tropicália album-manifesto, and he released the debut LP Tom Zé on Rozemblit. “São Paulo, Meu Amor” took first prize at TV Record’s IV FMPB in São Paulo, while “2001,” written with Rita Lee, placed fourth and received the best-lyrics award at the same event.

In 1969 he shared the stage with Gal Costa in Rio and São Paulo for O Som Livre de Tom Zé e Gal Costa. The following year he recorded the album Tom Zé for RGE. In 1971 he inaugurated the São Paulo music course Sofist Balacobaco -- Muito Som e Pouco Papo. He returned to the studio for Continental with Tom Zé in 1972, Todos os Olhos in 1973, Estudando o Samba in 1976, and Correio da Estação do Brás in 1977. A 1974 concert with the band Capote took place in São Paulo; in 1975 he acted in the Brazilian production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show; and in 1976 he toured universities with Vicente Barreto. He moved to RGE in 1984 for Nave Maria, while Continental reissued the 1972 album as Se o Caso é Chorar. Sporadic performances continued, yet his ironic, classically informed style and handmade instruments kept him largely invisible to the public, prompting a period of depression during which he considered returning to his hometown to work at his nephew’s gas station.

During a 1989 visit to Brazil, David Byrne purchased a used copy of Estudando o Samba, initially regarding it as an instructional record. Once he heard the music he contacted Arto Lindsay for details on Zé. A Brazilian journalist noticed the note “When in Brazil, look for Tom Zé” on Byrne’s desk and reported the interest, prompting an excited call from Zé to Caetano. Caetano initially supposed the inquiry concerned Tuzé de Abreu, Byrne’s acquaintance, which left Zé cautious in later comments. Byrne nevertheless became the first artist signed to Luaka Bop. Releases on the label earned positive notices in The New York Times, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Le Monde, and received a Creativity Award in Telluride, Colorado. In 1991 The Best of Tom Zé was ranked third by Down Beat critics and fourth by readers. The Hips of Tradition appeared on Luaka Bop in 1992, followed by appearances at the Zurich Jazz Festival and extensive tours across Europe and the United States. Zé became the first Brazilian musician presented at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1993 and the first Latin American composer presented at Minneapolis’s Walker Art Center; he also opened the London International Festival of Theatre at Queen Elizabeth Hall, performed in Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton, Saskatoon, and New York, received 20th Century Artist honors, and played Summerstage in Central Park.

He contributed to Ugo Giorgetti’s film Sábado in 1994 and toured the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and France. Brazilian capitals hosted his concerts in 1995 and 1996. That same year he composed the Parabelo soundtrack with José Miguel Wisnik for the modern ballet company Grupo Corpo, earning an APCA award. Luaka Bop issued Com Defeito de Fabricação in 1998 and the remix collection Postmodern Platos in 1999. Warner Music Brazil released the compilation Enciclopédia Musical Brasileira to open the new decade, followed by Jogos de Armar in 2000. The 2002 collaboration with Gilberto Assis, Grupo Corpo: Sanaugustin, was succeeded in 2006 by the similarly titled Santagustin. Estudando o Pagode appeared in 2005 and Danc-Eh-Sa: Dança dos Herdeiros do Sacrifício in 2006. Imprensa Cantada 2003 reached stores in 2007, and Luaka Bop delivered Estudando a Bossa in 2010 along with a limited-edition 180-gram LP box containing Massive Hits (Estudando o Samba), Estudando o Pagode, and Estudando a Bossa, plus a 7-inch single recorded with Tortoise and a CD of a conversation between Zé and David Byrne.