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Tom Zé

Tom Zé

Tom Zé has been played over 40 times on NTS, first on 23 February 2014. Tom Zé's music has been featured on 41 episodes.

Born Antônio José Santana Martins, October 11, 1936 in Irará, Bahia, Brazil, Zé is a representative of Brazil's alternative sound, not only because of his use of objects as instruments, but also for his attitudes and for his eccentric, vivid style. Influential in the Tropicalia movement, Zé contributed -- along with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Os Mutantes, and Nara Leão -- to the watershed tropicalia album/manifesto Tropicália: ou Panis et Circenses. While the other major figures of tropicalia would go on to great commercial and critical success in later decades, Zé slipped into obscurity in the 1970s and 1980s.

Remaining true to the experimental and dada impulses of tropicalia, Zé has been noted for both his unorthodox approach to melody and instrumentation, employing unique instruments such as a typewriter. He has collaborated with many of the concrete poets of São Paulo, including Augusto de Campos, and employed concrete techniques in his lyrics. Musically, his work appropriates samba, bossa nova, Brazilian folk music, forró, and American rock and roll, among others. He has been praised by avant-garde composers for his use of dissonance, polytonality, and unusual time signatures.

In the early 1990s, Zé's work experienced a revival when American musician David Byrne discovered one of his albums, Estudando o Samba (1975), on a visit to Rio de Janeiro. Byrne went on to release a compilation of Zé's material as well as two full-length albums of new songs on his Luaka Bop label. A guitar riff from Zé's song Jimmy, Renda-se is sampled on R&B singer Amerie's song Take Control.

Quote: "I don't make art, I make spoken and sung journalism."

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Tom Zé

Tom Zé has been played over 40 times on NTS, first on 23 February 2014. Tom Zé's music has been featured on 41 episodes.

Born Antônio José Santana Martins, October 11, 1936 in Irará, Bahia, Brazil, Zé is a representative of Brazil's alternative sound, not only because of his use of objects as instruments, but also for his attitudes and for his eccentric, vivid style. Influential in the Tropicalia movement, Zé contributed -- along with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Os Mutantes, and Nara Leão -- to the watershed tropicalia album/manifesto Tropicália: ou Panis et Circenses. While the other major figures of tropicalia would go on to great commercial and critical success in later decades, Zé slipped into obscurity in the 1970s and 1980s.

Remaining true to the experimental and dada impulses of tropicalia, Zé has been noted for both his unorthodox approach to melody and instrumentation, employing unique instruments such as a typewriter. He has collaborated with many of the concrete poets of São Paulo, including Augusto de Campos, and employed concrete techniques in his lyrics. Musically, his work appropriates samba, bossa nova, Brazilian folk music, forró, and American rock and roll, among others. He has been praised by avant-garde composers for his use of dissonance, polytonality, and unusual time signatures.

In the early 1990s, Zé's work experienced a revival when American musician David Byrne discovered one of his albums, Estudando o Samba (1975), on a visit to Rio de Janeiro. Byrne went on to release a compilation of Zé's material as well as two full-length albums of new songs on his Luaka Bop label. A guitar riff from Zé's song Jimmy, Renda-se is sampled on R&B singer Amerie's song Take Control.

Quote: "I don't make art, I make spoken and sung journalism."

Original source: Last.fm

Tracks featured on

Most played tracks

Jimmy, Renda-Se
Tom Zé
RGE Discos1971
Jimmy Renda Se
Tom Zé
Mr Bongo2015
A Felicidade
Tom Zé
Continental1976
Dor E Dor
Tom Zé
Continental1972
Cortina 1
Tom Zé
Luaka Bop, Warner Bros. Records1992
Jimmy, Renda-Se
Tom Zé
RGE Discos1970
Toc
Tom Zé
Luaka Bop2011
A Felicidade
Tom Zé
Luaka Bop, Sire, Warner Bros. Records1990
Se
Tom Zé
Continental1976
Ogodô, Ano 2000
Tom Zé
Luaka Bop, Warner Bros. Records1992