''Estudando o Samba'' is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

by Brazilian singer Tom Zé, recorded in 1976. It was listed by the Brazilian edition of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' as one of the 100 best Brazilian albums in history. The album didn't receive much attention from the Brazilian press. It surveys Brazilian music's largest genre, the

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 ...

, while approaching the music with the same creativity Zé had shown with his previous album, ''Todos os Olhos''. While doing research about samba for his musical label Luaka Bop,

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

bought this album after allegedly feeling attracted to its unusual cover and reignited Tom Zé's career. The cover is almost entirely blank, except for the album's title and Zé's name themselves and for a rope and a

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...

which can be seen at the image's bottom. Zé wanted them to be references to both the ongoing military dictatorship in Brazil and to the strict manner in which samba was performed, with its rhythms firmly dictated by samba schools directors. His name was purposely written with a much smaller font size than that of the album's. In a 2019 interview, he said he didn't remember the reason for the small font, but said he was probably willing to "hide" behind the album.

Track listing

Side A

#"Mã" (Tom Zé) #"A Felicidade" ( Tom Jobim -

Vinicius de Moraes Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed O Poetinha ("The little poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwright ...

) #"Toc" (Tom Zé) #"Tô" (Élton Medeiros - Tom Zé) #"Vai (Menina Amanhã de Manhã)" (Perna - Tom Zé) #"Ui! (Você Inventa)" (Odair - Tom Zé)

Side B

#"Doi" (Tom Zé) #"Mãe (Mãe Solteira)" (Élton Medeiros - Tom Zé) #"Hein?" (Tom Zé - Vicente Barreto) #"Só (Solidão)" (Tom Zé) #"Se" (Tom Zé) #"Índice" (José Briamonte - Heraldo do Monte - Tom Zé)

References

1976 albums Tom Zé albums Concept albums {{Brazil-album-stub