Jamelão (May 12, 1913 – June 14, 2008)

Another legendary sambista has died. José Bispo Clementino dos Santos, known as Jamelão, passed away on Saturday. Beginning his association with Mangueira as a percussionist, he became one of the biggest voices of the Samba School.

Known for his often grumpy disposition, Jamelão (a nickname that has been used as a derogatory racial epithet) had an impressive recording career that began as a romantic "crooner" in 1949. In the 1970s, when many samba schools began a transformation from community to commercial mega-enterprises (leaving many of their community members aside for more "fashionable" actors and models), Jamelão's recording career stalled.

I'm not a huge fan of the "crooner" recordings of the 1950s and 60s, but I will leave you with a ballad and a more traditional samba from my favorite decade.

"Ela disse-me assim (Vá embora)" (1959)


"Apoteose do samba" (1975)


The great big samba in the sky keeps getting better and better...