Seu Jorge is on a Mission to Break Brazilian Stereotypes

Posted on Aug 17th 2010 4:35PM by Jesse Ship
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Samir Hussein, Getty Images

Seu Jorge may be considered a major force in the revival of the samba, but the singer and actor ('The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou') is a somewhat reluctant ambassador. "I don't want this. I just want to make music for everybody -- not just for Brazil, or Brazilian people. There is so much more to our country than Caipirinhas, Carnival and capoeira. The new generation is not happy with these stereotypes."

As a child living in the favelas of Brazil, his family had only an AM radio to listen to, but he still remembers one of the first songs to strike him -- 'Fly, Robin, Fly' by Silver Convention. "I looked at my parents and said, 'This sounds like black music!'" The second song to influence him from a young age was 'Pega Eu' by the classic samba player, Bezerra da Silva. "He sung about the problems of people like us living in the favelas, but in a very funny way. I remember sitting around with my family laughing so hard over this song. It was also the first time I felt a strong connection to music."

"I spent five years at a school at school for the arts, studying music and acting. I had a few special appearances but nothing major. In 1997, I formed my first band, Farofa Carioca, in 1998 we recorded our first album. In 2001, I made 'City of God' -- and then everything changed." Already a star at home, Seu's role as Knockout Ned in the Oscar-nominated film brought him serious international exposure, which allowed him to go solo and forge a sustainable career out of music.

Many international audiences got their first taste of Jorge's music when he appeared in Wes Anderson's film, 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.' Not only did Jorge play Pele dos Santos in the movie, he also contributed a handful of Portugese-translated covers of David Bowie songs to the soundtrack.

His latest project, 'Seu Jorge & Almaz' -- which includes drummer Pupillo and guitarist Lucio Maia from Nação Zumbi, with bassist and composer Antonio Pinto -- also consists mostly of covers that have been reworked into haunting, psychedelic rock. The songs runs the gamut from songs from traditional Samba players like Tim Maia and Jorge Ben to American artists like Roy Ayers and Michael Jackson.

"I find it hard to even call these songs covers," Jorge argues. "They are more like re-interpretations of songs we wished we had written. Covers are played and recorded exactly the same. When you play something like 'Das Model' by Kraftwerk electro-acoustically, it is no longer a cover song."

The album, though just recently released, was actually recorded in 2008 over a period of eight days and produced by Mario C, frequent producer for the Beastie Boys. But Jorge believes the timing is right, because US listeners are ready for fresh sounds.

"Americans have high expectations for music and everybody expects something new from Brazil."