Edu Lobo

Arena conta Zumbi and the festivals

Eduardo de Goes Lobo was born on August 29, 1943 in Rio de Janeiro, the son of the Pernambuco-born composer Fernando Lobo. He began on accordion and then took up guitar against his father's wishes, studied law and considered a diplomatic career, and Vinicius de Moraes urged him to use the name Edu Lobo. His style blends bossa nova, Northeastern rhythms, classical music, samba and jazz, and he cites Joao Gilberto and Tom Jobim as influences. His first record was a double EP in 1962, and his first LP, A Musica de Edu Lobo por Edu Lobo, followed in 1964 on Elenco, though Cravo Albin's dictionary dates it to 1965.

In 1964 he was invited to write the score for Arena conta Zumbi, by Gianfrancesco Guarnieri and Augusto Boal, building on his song "Zambi" with Vinicius de Moraes. It opened on May 1, 1965 at the Teatro de Arena in Sao Paulo and ran nearly two years. In 1965 "Arrastao", written with Vinicius and sung by Elis Regina, won the first Festival Nacional de MPB on TV Excelsior and launched them both; "Canto Triste" was a finalist at the 1966 Festival Internacional da Cancao, and "Ponteio", with Capinam, won the third Festival de MPB on TV Record in 1967. In 1966 he made Edu & Bethania with Maria Bethania.

From the Hot Afternoon (1969), with Paul Desmond and arrangements by Don Sebesky, came out on A&M/CTI, and Sergio Mendes Presents Lobo in 1970. He made Cantiga de Longe (1970, arranged by Hermeto Pascoal), Missa Breve (1972, with Milton Nascimento), and arranged Calabar (Chico Buarque and Ruy Guerra) in 1973, whose staging the censors banned after it was prepared. The ballet O Grande Circo Mistico, to a Jorge de Lima poem, premiered on March 17, 1983 with the Bale Teatro Guaira, and played about 200 performances to over 200,000 spectators. Later records include Corrupiao (1993), Meia Noite (1995, with Dori Caymmi), Cambaio (2002, with Chico Buarque, a Latin Grammy), Tantas Marés (2010) and Dos Navegantes (2017, a Latin Grammy). He won the Premio Shell for best composer in 1994, and marked 60 years of career in 2023. Setlist.fm shows him still touring through 2026.