Tom Zé
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Tom Zé (born Antônio José Santana Martins, 1936 in Bahia, Brazil) is a Brazilian songwriter and composer. "Tom Zé" is a faithful informalization of his given names, literally meaning "Tony Joe".
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[edit] Biography
Zé grew up in the small town of Irara, Bahia in the northeastern Sertão. He would later claim that his hometown was "pre-Gutenbergian", as information was primarily transferred through oral communication. After pursuing an advanced degree in music in Salvador, Zé moved to São Paulo and began his career in popular music. Much of his early work involved his wry impressions of the massive metropolitan area, coming from a small town in the relatively poor northeast.
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 several compilations of Zé's material 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."[1]
[edit] Discography
- Studio Albums
| Album | Release date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Grande Liquidacao | 1968 | Sony Brazil |
| Tom Zé (album) | 1970 | Continental |
| Se o Caso, Chorar | 1972 | |
| Todos os Olhos | 1973 | |
| Estudando o Samba | 1975 | |
| Correio da Estacao do Bras | 1978 | |
| Nave Maria | 1984 | |
| Brazil Classics, Vol. 5: The Hips of Tradition | 1992 | Luaka Bop |
| Com Defeito de Fabricação | 1998 | Luaka Bop |
| Postmodern Platos | 1999 | Trama Records |
| Jogos de Armar | 2000 | Trama Records |
| Imprensa Cantada | 2003 | Trama Records |
| Estudando o Pagode | 2005 |  Trama Records
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| Danç-Eh-Sá | 2006 | Tratore |
- Collections
| Album | Release date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil Classics, Vol. 4: The Best of Tom Ze - Massive Hits | 1990 | Luaka Bop |
| 20 Preferidas | 1999 | RGE |
| Serie Dois Momentos, Vol. 1 | 2000 | Wea International |
| Serie Dois Momentos, Vol. 2 | 2000 | Wea International |
| Serie Dois Momentos, Vol. 15 | 2000 | Wea International |
