Jards Macalé

Singer, guitarist, composer, arranger and actor, Rio de Janeiro native Jards Anet da Silva has lived his whole life listening, playing and studying music. Friends with musicians from Bahia, he directed a Maria Bethânia show in 1966. He was close to the tropicalists and, in 1969, had to face the discontentment of the audience in a festival where he theatrically performed the rock song “Gotham City”. In 1970, Macalé went to London to meet the exiled artists from Bahia. With songs recorded by Gal Costa (“Hotel das Estrelas”, “Vapor Barato”), Maria Bethânia (“Anjo Exterminado” and “Movimento dos Barcos”) and Clara Nunes (“O Mais-Que-Perfeito”), he decided to make his first solo album, Jards Macalé, from 1972, upon his return to Brazil. In the following year, he recorded the double album Banquete dos Mendigos live, with various artists, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Human Rights Declaration. The LP was censored and only came out years later. In 1974, Jards put out the LP Aprender a Nadar, introducing the romantic morbeauty (morbidity + beauty) aesthetics with his partner, poet Waly Salomão. One among many irreverent moments in his career happened when he rented ferryboats to make a party for a new LP and finished the show by diving into the sea. In 1987, he released Quatro Batutas e Um Coringa, proceeding to enjoy a 11-year retirement, interrupted only by O Que Faço É Música. In the meantime, his work has been rescued both by newcomers (“Gotham City” was covered by Camisa de Vênus and “Vapor Barato” by O Rappa) and veterans (Moreira da Silva, the king of the samba de breque, or break samba, passed down the crown to Macalé).