Baden Powell Biography
6 August 1937, Varre-E-Sai, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, d. 26 September 2000, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A legend of Brazilian guitar, Powell emerged on the cusp of the bossa nova boom, bringing new dimensions to the music by drawing on jazz and classical music, as well as the Afro-Brazilian folklore of the north-east. Named after the founder of the Boy Scouts (Powell's family was involved in the movement in Brazil), he grew up in Rio and from childhood was surrounded by music. His father was a violinist and his grandfather had been the director of one of the first black orchestras in post-slavery Brazil. At his father's insistence, Powell began guitar lessons at the age of eight, and his talent quickly became obvious. After only a year, he won first place as guitar soloist on a national radio programme. By his early teens he had dropped out of school and began performing on radio and touring small towns around the country. In 1955, he played with Ed Lincoln's jazz group at the Bar Plaza in Rio's Copacabana district, a focal point of the jazz scene and a hangout for musicians such as Antonio Carlos Jobim. Powell also began to write songs, and in 1956 he had his first hit with "Samba Triste". In 1960, he met the poet and composer Vinícius De Morães, beginning Powell's entry into the world of bossa nova. Together they produced numerous hits, including "Berimbau", "Samba Da Bênção", "Samba En Preludio", and "Formosa", that would become standards of the genre. Their partnership also led to the amazing collection of songs that came to be known as the "Afro Sambas", including "Canto De Ossanha", "Bocoche", "Canto Do Xangô", and "Tristeza E Solidão". After the two parted ways, Powell moved to Europe, where he had gained a large following; for most of the 70s he lived in Paris, France, and he later moved to Baden-Baden in Germany. By then he had achieved recognition around the world as a soulful virtuoso of the guitar. In 1987 he moved back to Brazil, and remained a prolific recording and touring artist up until his death in September 2000.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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