Martinho da Vila

Three-time Latin GRAMMY Award-winner Martin José Ferreira, better known as Martinho da Vila, has become one of Brazil’s best-known samba artists over the course of his fifty-plus-year career. Born on February 12, 1938, in Duas Barras, Rio de Janeiro, the self-taught singer and multi-instrumentalist first made a name for himself as a participant in the 1967 and 1968 editions of III Festival da Record, where he competed with the songs "Menina Moça" and "Casa de Bamba" respectively. The latter song went on to become an international hit, and was included on Ferreira’s self-titled debut album, released the following year via RCA. Abandoning his career as an accountant for the Brazilian army in 1970 to become a full-time musician, he continued to release albums on a yearly and occasionally biannual basis, increasingly garnering national recognition. “Canta Canta, Minha Gente”, the title track from his 1974 album of the same name, was another chart smash. Moving between various labels in the ensuing decades including CBS, Sony and Universal while sustaining strong album sales, he achieved a personal best with 1995’s Tá Delícia, Tá Gostoso, which sold over a million copies. The LP also spawned the hit single “Mulheres”, which won a national Mehlores do Ano (Best of the Year) award by popular vote. Ferreira has since worked extensively with the Vila Isabel samba school, and has collaborated with various orchestras. In 2000, he coordinated a one-off show celebrating black classical musicians entitled the Concerto Negro. While continuing to share new material in the 21st century, he has also pursued various non-musical ventures, doubling up as an author of children's books and romance novels and a prominent commentator on Afro-Brazilian issues. In the following decades, Martinho da Vila won the Latin Grammy for Best Samba/Pagode Album for the LPs Brasilatinidade (2005), O Pequeno Burguês (2008), De Bem com a Vida (2016), and Negra Opera (2023).

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