Arlindo Cruz (born September 14, 1958, birth name Arlindo Domingos da Cruz Filho) is a Brazilian musician and songwriter, working in the genre of

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

and

pagode Pagode () is a Brazilian style of music that originated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a subgenre of Samba. Pagode originally meant a celebration with food, music, dance, and party. In 1978, singer Beth Carvalho was introduced to this music, like ...

. Cruz took part in the most important formation of Grupo Fundo de Quintal, and is considered one of the most important figures of the

movement.

Biography

At the age of seven, Cruz was given his first musical instrument, the cavaquinho, by his father (Arlindão), a friend and partner of Candeia with whom he had founded the Mensageiros do Samba group. From 7 to 12 years, Cruz already played by ear, learning chord voicing from his brother Acyr Marques' guitar playing. At 12, he went on to study classical guitar for 2 years at the Flor do Méier institution. About that time he started working professionally as a musician, on rodas de samba with various artists, especially Candeia who he considers to be his musical godfather. With Candeia he recorded a simple compact and an LP called 'Roda de Samba', playing cavaquinho. With Jorge Aragão exiting Grupo Fundo de Quintal, Cruz was invited to join the group, an invitation which he accepted happily, dedicating himself during 12 years of success. Cruz played the banjo cavaquinho in the group and was one of the lead voices and songwriters, along with singer/songwriter Sombrinha, who played cavaquinho and guitar. Arlindo Cruz has over 450 songs recorded by various artists, including Zeca Pagodinho,

Maria Rita Maria Rita (; born 9 September 1977, São Paulo) is a Brazilian singer. Born Maria Rita Camargo Mariano, she is the daughter of famed pianist/arranger César Camargo Mariano and the late Brazilian singing legend Elis Regina and sister to P ...

and Beth Carvalho. Cruz is also considered one of the most prolific banjo players to have ever dwelled in the samba scene, alongside Almir Guineto, with a great number of studio recordings for various artists, standing as a distinguished instrumentalist. After leaving Grupo Fundo de Quintal in 1993, Cruz released one solo record. Soon afterwards, he joined his old partner Sombrinha in a quite successful partnership, Arlindo Cruz & Sombrinha, which lasted until ca. 2005. In 2012, Arlindo Cruz recorded 'Tatu Bom De Bola' the official song for Fuleco the Armadillo the official Mascot of

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

scheduled to take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014. In 2015, his album ''Herança Popular'' was nominated for the 16th Latin Grammy Awards in the Best Samba/Pagode Album category. Arlindo Cruz proceeded in solo career until March 17, 2017 when he suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. It occurred when the musician was preparing himself to travel with his son to Osasco, São Paulo, as part of the project "Pagode 2 Arlindos". In the following year, he regained the movements of his mouth and has been able to breathe by himself again since 2019.

References

Arlindo Cruz at Só Samba
Samba musicians Living people Brazilian Candomblés 1958 births Samba enredo composers Latin music composers {{Brazil-musician-stub