Antônio José Santana Martins (born 11 October 1936), known professionally as Tom Zé (), Born in Irará,

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who was influential in the Tropicália movement of 1960s Brazil. After the peak of the Tropicália period, Zé went into relative obscurity: it was only in the 1990s, when musician and

Luaka Bop Luaka Bop is a New York–based record label founded by musician David Byrne, former lead singer and guitarist for the art rock– new wave band Talking Heads. What began with Byrne making cassettes of his favorite Tropicália tracks for his fr ...

label head

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

discovered Zé's 1975 album ''Estudando o Samba'' and then released reissues of his work, that Zé returned to performing and releasing new material.

Early life and career

Tom Zé grew up in the small town of Irará, Bahia in the dry

sertão The ''sertão'' (, plural ''sertões'') is the " hinterland" or " backcountry" of Brazil. The word refers both to one of the four sub-regions of the Northeast Region of Brazil or the hinterlands of the country in general (similar to the specific ...

region of the country's Northeast. He would later claim that his hometown was "pre-

Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg ( – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who invented the movable-type printing press. Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg's invention of the printing ...

ian", as information was primarily transferred through oral communication. As a child, he was influenced by Brazilian musicians such as

Luiz Gonzaga Luiz Gonzaga do Nascimento (standard orthography 'Luís'; ; December 13, 1912 – August 2, 1989) was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, musician and poet and one of the most influential figures of Brazilian popular music in the twentieth century. ...

and

Jackson do Pandeiro José Gomes Filho (August 31, 1919 – July 10, 1982), more commonly known as Jackson do Pandeiro (), was a Brazilian percussionist and singer. He is described by Allmusic as a key promotor of Northeastern Brazilian music (along with Luiz Gonz ...

. Zé became interested in music by listening to the radio, and moved to the state capital of Salvador to pursue a degree. He later relocated to

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

and began his career in popular music there.

Career

Much of his early work involved his wry impressions of the massive

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

, coming as he did, from a small town in the relatively poor northeast. Influential in the Tropicália movement, Zé contributed, along with

Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicália, which encompas ...

Gilberto Gil Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (; born 26 June 1942), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Ministry of Culture (Brazil), Minister of ...

Gal Costa Gal Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos (born Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos; 26 September 1945 – 9 November 2022), known professionally as Gal Costa (), was a Brazilian singer of Música popular brasileira, popular music. Twelve-times Bra ...

, Os Mutantes, and Nara Leão, to the watershed Tropicália album/

manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

'' Tropicália: ou Panis et Circenses'' (1968). He also participated in a series of concerts with the musicians. After the

Brazilian military government The military dictatorship in Brazil (), occasionally referred to as the Fifth Brazilian Republic, was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against presid ...

of the 1960s began to crack down on the musicians of Tropicália, Zé moved out of the public eye and began to experiment with novel instruments and composition styles. While the other major figures of Tropicália would go on to great commercial and critical success in later decades, Zé slipped into obscurity in the 1970s and 1980s.

Re-emergence

In the early 1990s, Zé's work experienced a revival when American musician

discovered one of his albums, ''Estudando o Samba'' (1975), on a visit to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. Zé was the first artist signed to the

label and has so far released a compilation and two albums, all of which received positive reviews from critics in the United States. In 2011, he collaborated with

Javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

on the song "Ogodô, Ano 2000" for the

Red Hot Organization ''Red Hot Organization'' (RHO) is a non-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization with goals to promote diversity through equal access to healthcare through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors ...

's most recent charitable album ''Red Hot+Rio 2''. The album is a follow-up to the 1996 ''

Red Hot + Rio Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

''. Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS, HIV and related health and social issues.

Style

Remaining true to the

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

and

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

impulses of Tropicália, Zé has been noted for both his unorthodox approach to

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

and

instrumentation Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related ...

, employing various objects as instruments such as the

typewriter A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...

. He has collaborated with many of the concrete poets of São Paulo, including

Augusto de Campos Augusto de Campos (born 14 February 1931) is a Brazilian writer who (with his brother Haroldo de Campos) was a founder of the Concrete poetry movement in Brazil. He is also a translator, music critic and visual artist. Work In 1952 he founded ...

, and employed concrete techniques in his lyrics. Musically, his work appropriates

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

, Bossa Nova, Brazilian

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

, ''

forró The term forró () refers to a musical genre, a rhythm, a dance and the event itself where forró music is played and danced. Forró is an important part of the culture of the Northeastern Brazil, Northeastern Region of Brazil. It encompasses ...

'', and American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

, among others. He has been praised by

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

composers for his use of dissonance,

polytonality Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key (music), key simultaneity (music), simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one di ...

, and unusual

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

s. Because of the experimental nature of many of his compositions, Zé has been compared with American musicians such as

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

and

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...

. One of his last efforts, though, has been a return to Bossa Nova, his ''Estudando a Bossa – Nordeste Plaza''. Says Zé: "That music has inhabited my psyche for 50 to 60 years. Familiar and profound, yet somehow extraterrestrial in my mind. It had to come out, to be dealt with."

Discography

;Studio albums and collaborations *1968: ''Grande Liquidação'' *1970: ''Tom Zé'' *1972: ''Se o Caso É Chorar'' *1973: ''Todos os Olhos'' *1976: ''

Estudando o Samba ''Estudando o Samba'' is a concept album by Brazilian singer Tom Zé, recorded in 1976. It was listed by the Brazilian edition of ''Rolling Stone'' as one of the 100 best Brazilian albums in history. The album didn't receive much attention from t ...

'' *1978: ''Correio da Estação do Brás'' *1984: ''Nave Maria'' *1992: '' Brazil Classics, Vol. 5: The Hips of Tradition'' *1997: ''Parabelo'' (with Zé Miguel Wisnik) *1998: '' Com Defeito de Fabricação'' *1999: '' Postmodern Platos'' *2000: ''Jogos de Armar'' *2002: ''Santagustin'' (with Gilberto Assis) *2003: ''Imprensa Cantada'' *2005: '' Estudando o Pagode – Na Opereta Segregamulher e Amor'' *2006: ''Danç-Êh-Sá'' *2008: ''Danç-Êh-Sá Ao Vivo'' (live) *2008: ''Estudando a Bossa – Nordeste Plaza'' *2009: ''O Pirulito Da Ciência – Tom Zé & Banda Ao Vivo'' *2012: ''Tropicália Lixo Lógico'' *2014: ''Vira Lata na Via Láctea'' *2016: ''Canções Eróticas de Ninar'' *2017: ''Sem Você Não A'' *2022: ''Língua Brasileira'' ;Compilations and box-sets *1990: '' Brazil Classics, Vol. 4: The Best of Tom Zé - Massive Hits'' *1999: ''20 Preferidas'' *2000: ''Série Dois Momentos'' (vols. 1, 2, and 15) *2010: ''Studies of Tom Zé: Explaining Things So I Can Confuse You'' (box-set of "Brazil Classics, Vol. 4", "Estudando o Pagode", "Estudando A Bossa Nordeste Plaza" and live performances)

References

External links

Official site

on the Luaka Bop label website

on Slipcue.com
Tom Zé interview
on ArtistInterviews.eu
Biography
on allmusic.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Ze, Tom 1936 births Living people Brazilian people of Portuguese descent 20th-century Brazilian male singers 20th-century Brazilian singers People from Bahia Música Popular Brasileira musicians Brazilian multi-instrumentalists Luaka Bop artists Tropicália Latin music songwriters 21st-century Brazilian male singers 21st-century Brazilian singer-songwriters Brazilian bossa nova singers Brazilian bossa nova musicians Samba musicians