Vidal França

José Calixto de Souza, or simply Vidal França. This soft-spoken man from Bahia, born in the city of Aporá in 1946, has a rich history in Brazilian music. He comes from a family of musicians, and coincidentally, of his nine siblings, he was the only one to pursue a career in music. "My world is music," said França, who even tried working in other fields, but since the age of 14, he has literally lived off music. França arrived in São Paulo in 1953 and went to live with his family in Parque São Lucas, a neighborhood that, according to him, has a very strong connection to his life. The musician was always self-taught, meaning he never needed to go to a music school to learn to play. At just five years old, he was already strumming his guitar, and thus began a long history, especially with stringed instruments (guitar and viola). França fondly remembers the time he worked as a salesclerk in a fabric store. Whenever he had a free moment, he would go to the restroom to study musical scores, but he would take longer than usual. One day, his boss told her to quit him job and dedicate himself entirely to music. "That was a gift for me," França said. At the age of 14, he formed the Trio Anakan, together with an uncle and a friend from his neighborhood, and competed in his first talent show. The name of the program was "Cuidado com a Buzina" (Beware of the Horn) and it was hosted by Silvio Santos. "I was going home, and by chance I heard the announcement of our group on a neighbor's radio," França said, about how he found out that his trio would be playing the following weekend on that program. From then on, França and his trio began to gain recognition and were gradually invited to perform at shows, on television programs, etc. But he never stopped studying music whenever he had some free time. In fact, he earned a degree in music, and his great mentor was the conductor João Toledo. One project that greatly impacted the musician was his participation in the musical play "Marta Saré," by Edu Lobo and Gianfrancesco Guarnieri. França composed and orchestrated the music for the play, which marked the reopening of the São Pedro Theater in downtown São Paulo. The production featured renowned actors such as Fernanda Montenegro, Beatriz Segal, and Antonio Fagundes, among others. "When I heard Demônios da Garoa's songs on the radio, I would run to the device," said França. On the occasion, the musician also made a point of talking about his friendship with Rolando Boldrin, whom he met in the 1970s, when he was still an actor. França is loving Boldrin's new program on TV Cultura. In the film industry, the musician was responsible for the musical scores of several works. Directors such as Jorge Jonas, André Palluch, Ozualdo Candeias, and José Mogica Marins, also known as "Zé do Caixão," relied on França's work. In addition, he composed music for Portuguese language lessons for TV Cultura and grammatical texts for the "Mobral" project directed by Walter George Durst. From then on, he performed alone and no longer in trios. He received numerous invitations to play at night venues, and began to captivate audiences, so much so that when he was scheduled to open for a main act, people would arrive early just to see França play. The musician shows great joy when the subject of family comes up. França has four daughters, one of whom, Karina França, 29 years old, also performs shows. He has been living with his partner and singer Mazé for approximately 12 years. "It's a social and artistic marriage," he concluded. Vidal França passed away on February 11, 2022.