Jorge Aragão (, (b. March 1, 1949 in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

), birth name Jorge Aragão da Cruz) is a Brazilian musician, singer/songwriter, working in the genres 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, like ...

. He is a multi-instrumentalist, and plays the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, ''

surdo The surdo is a large bass drum used in many kinds of Brazilian music, such as Axé/Samba-reggae and samba, where it plays the lower parts from a percussion section. It is also notable for its association with the cucumbi genre of the Ancient Near ...

'', ''

cavaco 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 ...

'' and

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, among other instruments. In performance, he usually plays 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 ...

'' most of the show, and sometimes the banjo.

Biography

Aragão started his career in the '70s as a ''sambista'' at balls and in nightclubs. His songwriting career took off in 1977, when

Elza Soares Elza da Conceição Soares ( née Gomes; 23 June 1930 – 20 January 2022), known professionally as Elza Soares (), was a Brazilian samba singer. In 1999, she was named Singer of the Millennium along with Tina Turner by BBC Radio. Elza was d ...

recorded his composition "Malandro" (with Jotabê). He was a founding member 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 ...

(nucleus of the

genre) and one of its main composers and lyricists, abandoning the band some time later to dedicate himself to a solo career. The first solo album, ''Jorge Aragão'', came in 1982, from Ariola. Conversant in the '' carnaval

carioca Carioca ( or ) is a demonym used to refer to anything related to the City of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. The original meaning of the term is controversial, maybe from Tupi language "''kari' oka''", meaning "white house" as the whitewashed stone ...

'', he was a commentator for the

samba school A samba school ( pt, Escola de samba) is a dancing, marching, and drumming (Samba Enredo) club. They practice and often perform in a huge square-Compound (enclosure), compounds ("quadras de samba") and are devoted to practicing and exhibiting sam ...

parades on the TV networks Globo and

Manchete Rede Manchete (; lit.: Headline Network; also known as TV Manchete or only Manchete) was a Brazilian television network that was founded in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1983 by the Ukrainian-Brazilian journalist and businessman Adolpho Bloch. The ne ...

. With 12 records to his credit, he has toured the United States and performs in various cities in Brazil. Among his greatest hits are "Amigos... Amantes", "Do Fundo do Nosso Quintal", "Enredo do Meu Samba", "Ontem", and "Coisinha do Pai" (with

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 ...

and

Luiz Carlos da Vila Luiz is a Portuguese given name that is an alternative form of Luís. It's archaic in Portugal, but common in Brazil. Notable people referred to by this name include the following: People *Luiz Bonfá (1922-2001), Brazilian guitarist and composer ...

), rerecorded by

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 ...

, which was inserted in the

Mars Pathfinder ''Mars Pathfinder'' (''MESUR Pathfinder'') is an American robotic spacecraft that landed a base station with a roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight, wheeled robot ...

probe in the late '90s. ''Samba Book: Jorge Aragão'', a tribute album by various artists, was nominated for the 2017 Latin Grammy Award for Best Samba/Pagode Album.

References

Cliquemusic (portuguese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aragao, Jorge 1949 births Living people 20th-century Brazilian male singers 20th-century Brazilian singers Samba musicians Brazilian songwriters