Tom Zé in Rio de Janeiro

Tom Zé is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist born in Irará, Bahia, in 1936, and a participant in the Tropicália movement. He makes experimental popular music rooted in samba and northeastern folk traditions, and appeared on the collective album Tropicália ou Panis et Circencis. His best-known records include Grande Liquidação and Estudando o Samba, the latter helping prompt David Byrne to reissue his work through Luaka Bop. Tom Zé resumed touring outside Brazil in the 1990s after the Luaka Bop reissues introduced his catalogue to new listeners. He brought band-led performances to theatres and festivals in the United States and Europe, extending a stage career that had begun during the Tropicália era. His concerts center on his voice, guitar and band. Homemade percussion and adapted everyday objects are used as instruments in arrangements that retain the rhythmic experiments of his recordings. He plays frequently in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.