At the beginning of the 80’s, a young man, browned by the Ipanema sun, surprised the Brazilian musical scene. At the forefront of an enthusiastic rock group, he began to voice the impulses of youths thirsty for novelty. He, Cazuza, was the big novelty.
Brazil was emerging from a long authoritarian cycle and was experiencing an incipient democratic atmosphere, that allowed contained energies to be freed. Cazuza played a major role in this process. And when the miseries and sore spots were being bared, he answered with full force.
The expression of his repulsion to this scenario can only be compared with the courage with which he fought for his life, publicly confronting Aids. Lessons in indignation and dignity; of how to live life in art and "be an artist in everyday life".
In the small amount of time he lived, Cazuza left an artistic performance that will stay. He drunk at the source of the live tradition of MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) to recreate, in a present-day and spontaneous portuguese, full of slang, and in a markedly personal style, the typical poetry of rock. He was justifiably called the poet of his generation. |
