Biography

An unconventional composer concerned with a personal blend of Brazilian music with funk, reggae, and rock music which serves as a vehicle for his corrosive and satiric lyrics of social content, Itamar Assumpção has always been an alternative artist. He has been recorded by many top artists like Ná Ozzetti (several songs), Cássia Eller ("Já Deu Pra Sentir," "Aprendiz de Feiticeiro"), Branca de Neve ("Nego Dito"), Mônica Salmaso ("Canto Em Qualquer Canto," by Itamar/Ná Ozzetti), and Zélia Duncan ("Código de Acesso"). Assumpção made his musical debut with his band, Isca de Polícia, in a local festival in 1979. He was launched for a broader audience in the core of the vanguarda paulista movement, together with Arrigo Barnabé, Premeditando o Breque, and Grupo Rumo in the Lira Paulistana Theater (São Paulo SP), in the same period. His first album was the independent Beleléu Leléu Eu, recorded in 1980. Ataulfo Alves Por Itamar Assumpção -- Pra Sempre Agora was awarded by APCA (São Paulo's association of art critics) as the Best of the Year. In 1988, he performed in Germany for the first of many times, participating in the Kassel Dokumenta. He released several albums and had a faithful audience in that country. His last album, Pretobras, was released in 1998 and found Itamar as politically cutting as ever with a title that cleverly confronted the oil industry in Brazil. His years after the albums release were spent battling intestinal cancer, which took his life June 13, 2003. ~ Alvaro Neder, Rovi