Tom Zé :: Estudando o Samba

Estudando o Samba is the pinnacle of Tom Zé’s tendency to use music as an intellectual statement and practical pedagogy. The title of the tracks, with a few exceptions, are monosyllabic onomatopoeias that refer to a Brazilian prosody, a gestural way of talking. The cover, produced by Zé himself, shows a barbed wire shaped like an ocean wave—-perhaps in reference to a twisting of the image of Brazil promoted by samba.