Zeca Pagodinho is how Jessé Gomes da Silva Filho is known all over Brazil. He was born in Irajá on February 4th, 1959 and raised in Del Castilho. Zeca is the fourth son in a family of five born to parents Jessé and Irinéa. As a young boy he would prefer attending rodas-de-samba (samba reunions) to school classes and because of this preference, ended up dropping out of school at a very early age.

In the 70´s, partido-alto (a type of samba) became the biggest sound in the suburbs of Rio. So when he wasn´t trying to make a living, Zeca would be singing and playing sambas. He took turns working at food markets, as a street vendor, office-boy, office assistant and in the typical carioca game called jogo do bicho, in which people bet money on animals (an illegal but very popular game on the streets of Rio). He did it all. At that time he made good friends with artists like Sérvula, Dorina, Paulão Sete Cordas, Monarco, Mauro Diniz, Almir Guineto, Bira Presidente, Beto Sem Braço and Arlindo Cruz. He also took part in the samba meetings of the traditional samba group Cacique de Ramos.

In the beginning of the 80´s, Pagodinho began to be admired as a respected song writer. His first song “Amagura” (“Bitterness”), written together with his partner, the flute player and fellow partideiro Cláudio Camunguelo, was recorded on the second album of Fundo de Quintal, the samba group founded in 1977, originally a Cacique de Ramos offspring. Friendship with the group led to Zeca Pagodinho meeting Beth Carvalho. She recorded his first hit: “Camarão que Dorme a Onda Leva" (“The Sleeping Shrimp is Washed Away by the Wave”), which was entitled even to a clip on Fantástico, Brazil´s most popular Sunday evening TV show. Zeca´s godmother Beth also recorded "Jiló com Pimenta" (“Jiló and Pepper”) by Arlindo Cruz and Zeca. Then, it was Alcione´s turn to record "Mutirão do Amor" (“Love´s Collective Effort”) by Zeca, Sombrinha and Jorge Aragão) on her 1983 LP "Almas e Corações" (“Souls and Hearts”).

Pagode, the samba style, was bursting on the Brazilian music scene. RGE released the 1985 anthology "Raça Brasileira" (“Brazilian Race”). Among many songs by Zeca were "Mal de Amor" (“Lovesick”), "Garrafeiro" (“Bottle Seller”), "A Vaca" (“The Cow”) and "Bagaço da Laranja" (“Orange Waste”). The album sold 100 thousand copies. The following year, Zeca would go solo for the first time with "Zeca Pagodinho”. He released the hits "Coração em Desalinho" (“Disorderly Love”), "Quando Eu Contar (IáIá)" (“When I Tell”), "Judia de Mim" (“Tease Me”) and "Brincadeira tem Hora" (“No Time for Fun”), reaching the one million album mark. In 1987, he also recorded “Patota do Cosme” (“Cosme´s Gang”) released through the RGE label. After that, he joined friends Beth Carvalho, Paulinho da Viola and Martinho da Vila on the RCA label (currently Sony-BMG).

In 1988, at the new recording label, he recorded "Jeito Moleque" (“Like a Kid”). In 1989, "Boêmio Feliz" (“Happy Bohemian”); in 1990, "Mania da Gente" (“The habits we have”); in 1991, "Pixote" (“Pixote”); in 1992, "Um dos Poetas do Samba" (“One of the Samba Poets”) and in 1993, "Alô, Mundo!" (“Hello World”). In 1995, he went to Universal where the same year he recorded the album "Samba Pras Moças" (“Samba for the Ladies”) with sambas like "Vou Botar teu Nome na Macumba" (“I´m going to voodoo you”), written together with Dudu Nobre and "Guiomar", with Nei Lopes. The following album was in 1996: “Deixa Clarear" (“Let the light in”). This album contain some of Zeca´s greatest hits such as "Verdade" (“The Truth”), “Conflito" (“Conflict”), "Não Sou Mais Disso" (“I´m not like that anymore”) and "Jiló com Pimenta" (“Jiló and Pepper”).

And then, Zeca released "Hoje É Dia de Festa" (“Today is party day”) in 1997, "Zeca Pagodinho" in 1998; "Zeca Pagodinho Ao Vivo" (“Zeca Pagodinho Live”), in 1999; "Água da Minha Sede" (“Water to quench my thirst”) in 2000 and "Deixa a Vida Me Levar" (“Go with the flow”) in 2002. This last album established him as one of the great names in Brazilian music. The title song became the Fifa World Cup music theme and the album won a Grammy for Best Samba Album of 2002.
In 2003, Zeca released his “Acústico MTV Zeca Pagodinho" (“Zeca Pagodinho Acoustic MTV”), as both CD and DVD. The album was an immediate hit. In 2005, he released “À Vera” (“In Truth”) and in 2006, repeated the partnership with MTV who, for the first time, decided to repeat its Acoustic Project with the same artist, leading to “Acústico MTV 2: Gafieira - Zeca Pagodinho” (“Acoustic MTV 2: Gafieira – Zeca Pagodinho”).

In 2008, Zeca released “Uma Prova de Amor”, a 16-track CD of which 13 are brand new and three are re-recordings. The album was produced by Rildo Hora and boasts the special participation of João Donato on "Sambou, Sambou", in a new version of the piano players´s own song; Jorge Ben Jor, in the moving track “Ogum”, during which he recites the São Jorge prayer; and the Velha Guarda da Portela, the revered group of senior samba artists from Portela samba school and long-time partners of Zeca´s, on the medley that brings together the classic sambas "Falsa Jura" (“False Oath”), "Pecadora" (“Sinner”) and "Manhã Brasileira" (“Brazilian Morning”).

December 2008