Pepeu Gomes

Pedro Anibal de Oliveira Gomes, better known as Pepeu Gomes (born February 7, 1952, in Salvador, Bahia state) is an accomplished Brazilian guitar player, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was one of the members of Novos Baianos. Pepeu has already been considered by the magazine Guitar World in 1988 as one of the ten best guitarists in the world in the category world music.

Biography

Pepeu Gomes was born February 7, 1952, and had contact with music from an early age because his father played in a dance orchestra and his mother taught piano lessons. Growing up he was influenced by the music of Waldir Azevedo, Jacob do Bandolim, Pixinguinha, and Canhoto da Paraíba. At nine years of age he invented his first instrument, a broom with a cable (that was usually used for street fighting) with the string tied at the ends. Later, he obtained a classical guitar and he learned to play by ear. At 11 years old, Gomes, interested in the style of Jovem Guarda, formed his first band, "Los Gatos" ("The Cats"), in which he played the upright bass. He formed his first professional band at 17 years old named "Os Minos". The group disbanded due to the difficulty of having members that were all minors in age. Gomes became a member of the band Leif's, where he played guitar and appeared on local television programs. While playing in Leif's, Gilberto Gil watched on TV the appearances and invited Gomes to partake in the concert marking his exile from Brazil which was also held with Caetano Veloso in Salvador (Gil and Veloso would seek political refuge in London). Before leaving, Gil gave Gomes the album Smash Hits by Jimi Hendrix who Gomes had not yet heard of. Hendrix would be the most influential artist on Gomes over the course of his career. In the 1970s Gomes formed the band Novos Baianos with Moraes Moreira, Paulinho Boca de Cantor, Luiz Galvão, and Baby Consuelo where he played guit