BIOGRAPHY

Born Francisco César Gonçalves on January 26, 1964, in the municipality of Catolé do Rocha, in the interior of Paraíba, at the age of sixteen Chico César went to the capital João Pessoa, where he graduated in journalism from the Federal University of Paraíba, at the same time that he he participated in the Jaguaribe Carne group, which wrote avant-garde poetry.

Shortly after, at age 21, he moved to São Paulo. Working as a journalist and proofreader, he perfected himself on the guitar, multiplied his compositions and began to form his audience. His artistic career has international repercussions. Most of his songs are poetry of high power of linguistic charm.

In 1991, he was invited to tour Germany, and the success encouraged him to leave journalism to dedicate himself only to music. He formed the band Cuscuz Clã (which would be the name of his second album), and then went on to perform at the São Paulo nightclub Blen Blen Club.

 

 

Chico César won the 29th edition of the Prêmio da Música Brasileira 2018 in the category best album of “Pop/Rock/ Reggae/ Hiphop/ Funk with the album “Estado de Poesia – Ao Vivo”

In 1995, he released his first CD “Aos Vivos” (Velas), acoustic and live, with the participation of Lenine and the legendary Lany Gordin. In 1996, national and international success came through the second album, “Cuscuz Clã” (MZA/PolyGram), produced by Marco Mazzola. On the third CD, “Beleza Mano”, he immersed himself in black culture with the participation of the Zairense Lokua Kanza, black choir of the Alcântara Family, rappers Thaíde and DJ Hum, Paulo Moura, among others. “Mama Mundi”, from 2000, shows her quality as an interpreter in a work full of songs and references to the sound that is made, both in the interior of Brazil and in different parts of the world.

In June 2002, his fifth CD, “Respeitem Meus Cabelos, Brancos” (Respect My Hair, Whites) (that’s right, with a comma!), which he defines as a nomadic work. With production signed by the Englishman Will Mowat, the album began to be pre-produced in London, where it recorded very special participations of Nina Miranda and Chris Franck, members of the band Smoke City (hype in Europe that spreads New Bossa there, a more modern version of the good old Bossa Nova). From there, Chico and Mowatt went to Recife to record Naná Vasconcelos’ swing. They went to Salvador looking for the tag of Carlinhos Brown. In João Pessoa, they recorded the sound of Metalúrgica Filipéia and Quinteto Brassil. Until, finally, they arrived in São Paulo, where the CD was entirely completed.

 

 

In November 2005, the sixth CD of his career, ”De um tempo pra cá”, by Biscoito Fino label. With 12 tracks, it features original songs composed by Chico since the 80s, in a chamber music format with the Quinteto da Paraíba: two violins (Yerko Tabilo and Ronedilk Dantas), a viola (Samuel Spinoza), a cello (Raiff Dantas) and a acoustic bass (Xisto Medeiros). A year later, the DVD, Cantos e Encontros de some time ago, was recorded during a show at the Ibirapuera Auditorium.

In 2008, “Francisco Forró y Frevo” appears, a dip by the artist into the spirit of the two main popular festivals in the Northeast (Carnival and the June festivities), to create a joyful record in which the focus is on the strength of the rhythms that animate these parties. : frevo and forró. And also in the dialogue that these rhythms naturally have with universal “beats”. For example: xote with reggae, frevo and drag-pé with ska… With regard specifically to frevo, a novelty: the combination of the language of the brass orchestras of Pernambuco with the Bahian guitar of the electric trios of Salvador of the 70s, when the revelry was under the command of the classic duo Dodô and Osmar.

In 2012, a celebration: the DVD “Aos Vivos Agora” comes out. With it, a new version of the CD and also the vinyl.

In 2015 Chico César releases “Estado de Poesia”, his first album of new songs in eight years.

“Estado de Poesia” (Natura Musical) is an album that combines the richness of Brazilian rhythms with universal sound. In the same album, samba, forró, frevo, toada and reggae mix and give life to Chico César’s new work.

Chico César won the 29th edition of the Prêmio da Música Brasileira 2018 in the category of best “Pop/Rock/Reggae/Hiphop/Funk” album with the album “Estado de Poesia – Ao Vivo”, released on DVD + CD, in 2017, by Deck.

In 2019, the new work arrives, a robust commentary on his political-social experiences, in the convulsed Brazilian moment of recent years. All 13 tracks of “O Amor É um Ato Revolucionario”, lyrics and music, are signed only by Chico César. Recorded between April and June 2019, at Gargolândia (SP), Casa do Mato (RJ), Space Blues (SP) and Etéreo das Recordações de Chita (SP) studios, the album is produced by André Kbelo Sangiacomo and Chico César himself. , who signs the direction with Helinho Medeiros, pianist of his group. Exceptions are the tracks “History” (produced and arranged by Márcio Arantes), “Pedrada” (produced and arranged by Eduardo Bid) and “Eu Quero Quebrar”, which (in addition to reading by Chico and the band) won a bonus version produced by Andre Abujamra. The album brings some guests: the teenager from Paraíba Agnes Nunes (with whom she shares the vocals in “De Peito Aberto”), the young singer-songwriter from Pernambuco Flaira Ferro (in “Cruviana”) and the guitarist from São Paulo Luiz Carlini (in the song “O Amor é a Revolutionary Act”, with a long improvisation in which he even quotes his mythological solo in the first recording of “Ovelha Negra” with Rita Lee and Tutti Frutti).

Also in 2019, he meets with Geraldo Azevedo and idealizes the Violivoz tour, which was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and resumed in October 2021. Still during the pandemic, Juliette Freire, participant of the TV show Big Brother Brasil Globo, sang the song “Deus Me Proteja”, from the album Francisco, forró y frevo, from 2008, in the 2021 edition of the program, which caused a significant increase in the auditions not only of this song but of the entire discography of Chico César – the artist grew 173% on one of the platforms, Spotify, and surpassed 100,000 subscribers on YouTube.