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Luiz Dias Galvão was born on July 22, 1935 in Juazeiro, north of Bahia, but his birth was not registered until two years later, in 1937. He earned his degree in agronomy and worked for six years before deciding to make a living from his art. As a teenager he met João Gilberto in Juazeiro, with whom he was friends until the death of his bossa nova father.
- “Immortalized in art,” says Baby do Brasil after the death of Luiz Galvão; Artists pay tribute to the musician
In the book João Gilberto: a bossa, Galvão talks about the years of friendship through memories collected by the poet. The exchange of affection and complicity between the two geniuses would be decisive in the fate of the Novos Baianos, which could be deduced from another meeting of Galvão.
2 of 6 Luiz Galvão, founder of Novos Baianos, during an interview in São Paulo on April 8, 1970 — Photo: Sergio Araki/AGE/Estadão Content
Luiz Galvão, founder of Novos Baianos, during an interview in São Paulo on April 8, 1970 — Photo: Sergio Araki/AGE/Estadão Content
In the midst of the period when “the hardest hand of the military dictatorship reigned”, as Galvão recalls in “Novos Baianos, the story of the group that changed MPB”, he met in Salvador with two other urban young people in the interior of the state. From Santa Inês, in the south of Bahia, came Paulo Roberto Figueiredo de Oliveira, known as Paulinho Boca de Cantor, and from Ituaçu, in the southwest of the state, came Antônio Carlos Moraes Pires, known as Moraes Moreira.
In 1968 they created the show that led to Novos Baianos, Desembarque dos Bichos after the world flood. The trio would still gain reinforcements Baby do Brasil and Pepeu Gomes. Alongside Jorge Gomes, Dadi, Charles Negrita, Baixinho, Bola Morais and Gato Félix. Through the natural law of encounter, the Novos Baianos began to write music history.
3 of 6 Novos Baianos at their home in Rio de Janeiro, in an excerpt from a GloboNews story — Photo: TV Globo Collection
Novos Baianos at her home in Rio de Janeiro, in an excerpt from a GloboNews story — Photo: Acervo TV Globo
In 1970, Galvão accompanied the group when they moved to a location in Jacarepaguá, Rio West Zone, where, borrowing from the hippie culture of the United States and Europe during the Brazilian military dictatorship, they recorded works that became a reference for Brazilian music .
After a local visit by João Gilberto, the group released the album “Acabou chorare” in 1972, which formed the Novos Baianos. The work brought together samba, rock, bossa nova, frevo, choro and baião.
4 of 6 covers of the album “Acabou chorare” by the group Novos Baianos — Photo: Antonio Luís
Cover of the album “Acabou chorare” by the group Novos Baianos — Photo: Antonio Luís
Featuring the rerecording of “Brasil pandeiro” by Assis Valente, in addition to “Preta pretinha”, “Mistério do planeta”, “A Menina Dança”, “Besta é tu” and the title track, all coauthored by Moraes Moreira.
The album was voted the best in the history of Brazilian music by Rolling Stone magazine in October 2007. There were eight studio albums in total. There are also two live albums from the group’s reunions, one from 1997 and one from 2017.
Luiz Galvão wrote most of the songs recorded by the group and set to music by Moraes Moreira. His compositions include “Acabou Chorare”, “Preta Pretinha” and “Mistério do Planeta”.
5 of 6 group during the presentation of the album Praga de Baiano, late 70’s — Photo: ACERVO GLOBO
Group during the presentation of the album Praga de Baiano, late 70’s — Photo: ACERVO GLOBO
Besides writing the band’s compositions, Galvão is the author of the books: “Novos Baianos: The Story of the Group That Changed MPB”; “João Gilberto: a bossa” and “The 80s: The story of a friendship in the lost decade”. The Juazeirense also released the album Galvão, A Palavra dos Novos Baianos.
Good humored and storyteller, Galvão left in his works notable encounters with João Gilberto, Tom Zé, Glauber Rocha, the whole partnership and brotherhood with Moraes Moreira, Paulinho Boca, Baby and Pepeu.
6 out of 6 artists ask for donations for the treatment of Luiz Galvão in a hospital in São Paulo — Photo: Reproduction/Redes Sociais
Artists ask for donations for the treatment of Luiz Galvão in a hospital in São Paulo — Photo: Reproduction/Redes Sociais
As his health failed him, Galvão and his family had a battalion of heirs to Galvão’s poetry and talent on the stage. Names like Marisa Monte, Dedé Gadelha, Paula Lavigne, Lúcio Mauro Filho, Luiz Caldas, the Buarque de Holanda family, Zélia Duncan, Ivete Sangalo, Arnaldo Antunes, Ana Carolina, Teresa Cristina, Olivia Byington, Astrid Fontenelle, Zé Virgílio, Davi Moraes and so many others acted for the poet’s care.
The lyricist who talks about love in Preta Pretinha and transformed an everyday story into the historical Acabou Chorare is the same who lived in anarchic and alchemical times. He faced dark times in constant defense of a pluralistic and democratic country. He made his art a seed for generations. And with the contribution of having lighted instruments from tanned people who insist on showing their worth, Galvão leaves one Brazil more tambourine.
In 2016, the new Bahians met again on the Fantástico stage; remember
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