Winner of 3 Latin Grammys, and nominated twice, he has recorded 10 albums and has toured the world. In 1993 one of his works was described by Billboard magazine as "the best CD produced in Latin America." In the 1990s he achieved domestic and international fame as the frontman of the group Timbalada, which involved more than 100 percussionists and singers, most of them poor young people from the Candeal neighbourhood. His music also formed part of the Bahia musical phenomenon known as Axé, and he is popular for his participation in the Salvador carnival. A socially-committed singer, he works on local projects in Salvador and has contributed to ventures like the Candyall Gueto Square musical space and the Pracatum school of music, showing his interest in education. For this work he has received, among his many awards, the Disco de Oro (BMG, Spain), the 2004 International Cooperation Prize, the Prince Claus Award (Netherlands) in 2003, and the UN Human Settlement Programme’s Best Practice Certificate and the UNESCO Prize in 2002. He has also won many musical awards, including the Telecinco Prize, (Spain, 2007), the Goya Prize (Academia de las Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas de España, 2005), the Ondas Prize (Spain, 2003) and a Triple Platinum Disc (Virgin Music, Italy, 2003). He has worked with major musicians such as Caetano Veloso and João Gilberto, and was one of the Tribalistas group.
