Alceu Paiva Valença, son of lawyer Décio de Souza Valença and Mrs Adelma Paiva Valença, was born on 1 July 1946 in São Bento do Una, a town in the southern ‘Agreste’region of Pernambuco.

The musician and composer Francisco Soares de Araújo, known as Canhoto da Paraíba (literally translated as ‘Lefty from Paraíba’), was born into a family of musicians – a clarinettist grandfather, a father who played guitar, brothers (nine) who turned to other instruments – on May 19 1928.

Cartola, born Angenor de Oliveira, was a singer and composer from Rio de Janeiro who was responsible for major samba hits. His life was not always easy. The third son of Sebastião Joaquim de Oliveira and Aida Gomes de Oliveira until the age of eleven led a comfortable life.

On 8 October 1863 in São Luís, Maranhão, Catullo da Paixão Cearense was born. His parents were Maria Celestina Braga da Paixão and Amâncio José da Paixão Cearense, a goldsmith. Catullo had two brothers: Gil and Gerson. When he was ten, his family moved to the semi-arid region of Ceará.

In the city of Caruaru, Pernambuco, on 14 May 1932, Clóvis Pereira dos Santos was born to Luiz Gonzaga Pereira dos Santos and Maria do Carmo Santos. From his father, a clarinettist in the musical group Nova Euterpe, he would inherit his aptitude for music.