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IRAJÁ, 1959
In Rio de Janeiro, samba is everywhere. Every neighborhood has a nook (sometimes a big nook, depending on the case) where great samba musicians materialized from time to time. A few quick examples: Vila Isabel is where Noel Rosa and Martinho da Vila (who’s actually from Duas Barras, a small city in the State of Rio de Janeiro) were first heard of. Elton Medeiro is from Gloria, Cartola was born in Catete, raised in Laranjeiras and became famous in Mangueira. Paulinho da Viola’ s first lived in Botafogo, Nelson Cavaquinho is from Tijuca, Beth Carvalho came to the South Zone of Rio after being born in Gamboa and Nei Lopes grew up in Irajá, same neighborhood where was born a certain Jessé Gomes da Silva Filho.
Named after his father, the baby was born on February 4th 1959, joining sisters Icléa (1952) and Ircéia (1957) and brother Jorge Roberto (1954). In 1964 the parents, Jessé and Irinéia, would have Isabel, their fifth child. The youngest was born in the neighborhood of Del Castilho, where the family had moved right after the birth of Zeca, or better yet, Jessé. Zeca would only come a few years later.
BOHEMIA, HERE I COME!
Running about and playing in Del Castilho, the boy became friends with the older guys. Besides giving his first steps in the school of samba, he also took extra lessons in the philosophy of life with “professor” Thybau, his great-uncle, patriarch of the family and expert in the art of bohemia and festivities in general. During his adolescence, the boy would always get invited to join the nocturnal adventures of his brother and of friends Zé Vaca Brava and Seu André. Since he was still a minor, the 14-year-old would hide under the tables of bars at the first sign of the cops.
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