The last “tropicalista”...










Born in Irará, in the state of Bahia, Brazil, Antônio José Santana Martins, known as Tom Zé is one of the most creative Brazilian songwriters. He became famous for his contributions to the installation of Tropicalia, a cultural and artistic movement that revolutionized the Brazilian culture during the 1960’s.

Tom Zé had his first contact with music when he was a child, when he used to listen to the local radio of his hometown. His interests in music started to develop and Tom Zé decided to study music at the University of Bahia, where he learned harmony, counterpoint, composition, piano, guitar and violoncello.

There, Tom Zé joined Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa and Maria Bethânia. These artists organized an artistic movement that later would be known as Tropicalismo. Mixing elements of different cultures with Brazilian music, the “tropicalistas” leaded a revolution. It was a unique moment in the history of Brazilian music.

After the “explosion” of Tropicalismo, while the other members of the group followed a more popular way, Tom Zé continued in experimental music, investigating new sounds and rhythms. This experimentalism was responsible for a drop in Tom Zé’s fame.

In the late 70s and early 80s Tom Zé did not produced famous albums. On the other hand, on these decades he wrote many songs and performed concerts in Brazilian Universities.

At the end of the decade of 1980s a curious happening changed dramatically Tom Zé’s career. David Byrne, a musician best known as the founding member and the principal songwriter of the New Wave band Talking Heads, found the album “Estudando o Samba” (1976) on a second-hand CD store. Tom Zé’s music fascinated him so much that Byrne introduced Tom Zé on the international market. From this day on Tom Zé recovered his fame and his music started to be recognized again.

In spite of his geniality and creativity Tom Zé is not well known by the great public. His innovations (like musical instruments made of car horns and floor polishers) and the experimentalism of his music are not as acceptable as conventional musicians by the public.
Tom Zé is undoubtedly the last “tropicalista”. While the other members of “Tropicalismo” migrated to other musical genres Tom Zé didn’t stop creating and innovating. Every new album is a surprise, full of new elements, themes, rhythms and expression.

Discography
CDs
Dança-êh-sá (2006)
Estudando o Pagode (2005)
Imprensa Cantada (2003)
Tom Zé - Série Dois Momentos Vol.15 (2000)
Tom Zé - Série Dois Momentos Vol.14 (2000)
Santagustin (2002)
Jogos de Armar – French Edition (2002)
Jogos de Armar - Faça Você Mesmo (2000)
Imprensa Cantada (1999)
Postmodern Platos (1999)
Com Defeito de Fabricação (1998)
No Jardim da Política (1998)
Parabelo (1997)
20 Preferidas (1997)
Prestígio 7 (1994)
Tom Zé (1994)
The Hips of Tradition – US Edition (1992)
The Best of Tom Zé – US Edition (1990)
LPs
Nave Maria - 1984
Correia da Estação do Brás - 1978
Estudando o Samba - 1976
Todos os Olhos - 1973
Tom Zé - 1972
Tom Zé - 1970
Tom Zé - 1968
source:wikipedia.org


Project from
Lucas Kaufmann Sacchetto
Advanced 3
Teacher Beatriz

Centro Britânico
Pompéia Branch