“Don’t let samba die, don’t let samba end”. This is how Alcione, the lady of samba, sings in one of her most famous songs, homonymous to the first verse and published in 1974. Depending on the public and the programming of some of the main concert halls in Portugal, Alcione’s request has good reasons to come true, after all, recently, samba here has been very much alive.
If last week it was the ‘Prince of Samba’, Paulinho da Viola, performing in Lisbon and Porto, in the next few days (6 and 8 November) it will be the turn of Zeca Pagodinhoanother symbol of the genre, performing in the two largest Portuguese cities.
“Usually, when I come, it’s to do showbut you can still go for a walk. On other visits, I have already visited Bairrada, Santarém and even here in Lisbon, São Jorge Castle and other points”, he said in a press conference held on the morning of Tuesday, November 4th, in a hotel on Avenida da Liberdade, in Lisbon, where he is preparing to perform on the stage at Sagres Campo Pequeno on Thursday (6th).
Author of hits such as “Deixa a Vida Me Levar”, “Verdade” and “Coração em Desalinho”, Zeca is one of the main names in Brazilian music and, this time, he arrives to celebrate 40 years of his career. In four decades, he accumulated more than 12 million records sold and won four Latin Grammy awards. “I never thought about it, it happened, but I never prepared for it”, he stated when asked about when he decided that samba would be his path in life.
For his next concerts in Portugal – in addition to Campo Pequeno he will also take the stage at the Super Bock Arena, in Porto on Saturday (8) – he will bring some of his great classics, “from ‘Camarão que Dorme a Wave Leva’ to ‘Deixa a Vida me Levar'”, a phrase that Zeca explained to the press.
“It’s not quite like that, right? ‘Let Life Take Me’ is because we can’t be too worried. But of course there are things in life that I have to worry about: children, grandchildren, work. After all that, let life take me” he explained. “There’s no point in programming anything. It has to be in God’s hands, we live. Do what you have to do and live. God solves the rest”, added the artist.
With more than two dozen albums published throughout his career, Zeca Pagodinho, born in the Irajá neighborhood, North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, 64 years ago, was one of the main artists to give a “new face” to samba in recent decades. Today, he is proud of such a living force of his kind, not only in Brazil, but also around the world.
“The staff [novos artistas] He’s doing fun things, taking ‘responsa’, as they say in Brazil. And this is out there, around the world, Wherever I go there are people singing samba. Even in Japan. It’s an honor“, said the artist who, even with few words at the press conference, always saves space for some good humor.
When asked if it is more difficult to find good lyrics, a good music partner or a good ‘boteco’ – as traditional bars in Brazil are called and of which Zeca is a confessed admirer – he says “all three”, making the journalists laugh. In Lisbon, however, he revealed that years ago he found a ‘bar’ that treats him well here: “Pinocchio”. “It’s my home”highlighted the carioca, a regular visitor to the traditional Restauradores establishment.
Zeca Pagodinho’s show in Lisbon this Thursday (6) is scheduled for 9pm. The performance in Porto on Saturday (8) is scheduled for 9:30 pm. Tickets are still available for both shows.
Between one concert and another, Zeca, at 64, remains attentive to new inspirations. “It’s like Sombrinha says [compositor brasileiro fundador do grupo Fundo de Quintal]. Everything he lives, everything he sees, he turns into samba”.
Making sambas “talking about life”, is, therefore, the way in which Zeca Pagodinho makes his contribution to keeping this art of Brazilian popular culture firm and strong, doing justice to the music and Alcione’s request paraphrased at the beginning of this text. In fact, the Lady of Samba is another who, very soon, will also be on stages across the country.