Arlindo Cruz (born September 14, 1958, birth name Arlindo Domingos da Cruz Filho) is a Brazilian musician and songwriter, working in the genre of

samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

and

pagode Pagode () is a Brazilian style of music that originated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a subgenre of Samba. Pagode originally meant a celebration with food, music, dance, and party. In 1978, singer Beth Carvalho was introduced to this music, liked ...

. Arlindo took part in the most important formation of

Grupo Fundo de Quintal Grupo Fundo de Quintal or simply Fundo de Quintal (''Backyard Group'', roughly) is a Brazilian Samba band formed in Rio de Janeiro at the end of the 1970s. History The founding members of Fundo de Quintal, Almir Guineto ( banjo/cavaco), Bira Pres ...

, and is considered one of the most important figures of the

movement.

Biography

At the age of seven, Arlindo was given his first musical instrument, the

cavaquinho The cavaquinho (pronounced in Portuguese) is a small Portuguese string instrument in the European guitar family, with four wires or gut strings. More broadly, ''cavaquinho'' is the name of a four-stringed subdivision of the lute family of instr ...

, by his father (Arlindão), a friend and partner of

Candeia Antônio Candeia Filho better known as Candeia (August 17, 1935 – November 16, 1978) was a Brazilian samba singer, songwriter, and musician. Early life Born in Rio de Janeiro to Antonia Candeio and Dona Maria, Antonio was a renowned flautist ...

with whom he had founded the Mensageiros do Samba group. From 7 to 12 years, Arlindo already played by ear, learning chord voicing from his brother Acyr Marques' guitar playing. At 12, he went on to study classical guitar for 2 years at Flor do Méier institution. About that time he started working professionally as a musician, on rodas de samba with various artists, especially

who he considers to be his musical godfather. With Candeia he recorded a simple compact and an LP called `Roda de Samba', playing

. With

Jorge Aragão Jorge Aragão (, (b. March 1, 1949 in Rio de Janeiro), birth name Jorge Aragão da Cruz) is a Brazilian musician, singer/songwriter, working in the genres of samba and pagode. He is a multi-instrumentalist, and plays the guitar, ''surdo'', ''cava ...

exiting

, Arlindo was invited to join the group, invitation which he accepted happily, dedicating himself during 12 years of success. Arlindo played the banjo cavaquinho in the group and was one of the lead voices and songwriters, along with singer/songwriter Sombrinha, who played cavaquinho and guitar. Arlindo Cruz has over 450 songs recorded by various artists, including

Zeca Pagodinho Jessé Gomes da Silva Filho, known professionally as Zeca Pagodinho (, born February 4, 1959), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter working in the genres of samba and pagode. Biography Born in the neighborhood of Irajá, Rio de Janeiro, Zeca Pagodin ...

Maria Rita Maria Rita (; born 9 September 1977, São Paulo) is a Brazilian singer. Born Maria Rita Camargo Mariano, she is the daughter of famed pianist/arranger César Camargo Mariano and the late Brazilian singing legend Elis Regina and sister to Ped ...

and

Beth Carvalho Elizabeth Santos Leal de Carvalho (May 5, 1946 – April 30, 2019), known professionally as Beth Carvalho, was a Brazilian samba singer, guitarist, cavaquinist and composer. Biography Carvalho was raised in a middle-class family in Rio de ...

. Arlindo is also considered one of the most prolific banjo players to have ever dwelled in the samba scene, alongside

Almir Guineto Almir de Souza Serra (12 July 1946 – 5 May 2017), better known by his stage name Almir Guineto, was a Brazilian sambista, singer and songwriter and instrumentalist, working in the genres of samba and pagode. Biography Guineto was director of t ...

, with a great number of studio recordings for various artists, standing as a distinguished instrumentalist. After leaving Grupo Fundo de Quintal in 1993, Arlindo released one solo record. Soon afterwards, he joined his old partner Sombrinha in a quite successful partnership, Arlindo Cruz & Sombrinha, which lasted until ca. 2005. In 2012, Arlindo Cruz recorded 'Tatu Bom De Bola' the official song for Fuleco the Armadillo the official Mascot of FIFA 2014 World Cup scheduled to take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014. In 2015, his album ''Herança Popular'' was nominated for the 16th Latin Grammy Awards in the Best Samba/Pagode Album category. Arlindo Cruz proceeded in solo career until March 17, 2017 when he suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. It occurred when the musician was preparing himself to travel with his son to Osasco, São Paulo, as part of the project "Pagode 2 Arlindos". In the following year, he regained the movements of his mouth and is able to breathe by himself since 2019.

References

Arlindo Cruz at Só Samba
Samba musicians Living people Brazilian Candomblés 1958 births Samba enredo composers Latin music composers {{Brazil-musician-stub