Oswaldinho do Acordeon

Oswaldo de Almeida e Silva was born on 5 June 1954 in Duque de Caxias, in the Baixada Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro state. He was one of six children of the Bahian accordionist Pedro Sertanejo (Pedro de Almeida e Silva) and Noêmia Lima e Silva; he said four of the siblings were born in Rio and two in São Paulo. His father, from Euclides da Cunha in Bahia, worked on Rádio Nacional and appeared on television programmes such as Chacrinha's.

Music filled the home. Oswaldinho recalled receiving a four-bass accordion at seven months old and ever larger instruments as he grew. Luiz Gonzaga, Sivuca and Zé Gonzaga were frequent visitors, and Dominguinhos came to live with the family at 15. The family later moved to São Paulo, where Pedro Sertanejo became known as the pioneer of forró in the city.

He was self-taught on the accordion until about 12, learning from Luiz Gonzaga, Dominguinhos, Sivuca and other sanfoneiros. In São Paulo he looked for an accordion school but found none, so he studied piano for about six years. He then studied classical music and accordion with the Italian teacher Dante D'Alonzo and later with Paulo Feola at the Conservatório Santa Clara, about 13 years of classical study in all. Sources differ on when the lessons with D'Alonzo began (he said age 16; the CIA Merit Award citation says 1976). In 1984 he won a scholarship to study in Italy.

He first recorded in 1963, aged nine, on a record by his father, and released a single in 1966 at 12, when he also began performing professionally with Pedro Sertanejo. His solo discography grew to more than 20 albums, among them Evolução (1972), Fantástico Oswaldo Silva (1973), Só quero um xodó (1974), Oswaldinho (1975), Forró pop (1977), Lágrimas de namorados (1978), Natureza (1979), Forró in concert (Continental, about 1980-1981), Forró 2000 (1982), Céu e chão (1983), Forró feroz (1984), Oswaldinho (1987), Vesúvio (1993), Instrumental no CCBB with João Parayba (1993), Ao vivo no estúdio (1998), Um bom forró (2001), Asa branca blues (2002), Oswaldinho do Acordeon (2003), Cada um belisca um pouco (2004, with Dominguinhos and Sivuca), Forró chorado (2011) and O Samba do Rei do Baião (with Socorro Lira).

Forró in concert, in which he played classical music in forró style, opened the way to European jazz festivals. He played the first Rock in Rio (1985) and again in 1991, the Free Jazz Festival, Montreux, Montreal, Chateauvallon, Juan-les-Pins and the Blue Note in New York, opened for Al Jarreau in France, and took part in the Pixinguinha project and Rita Lee's MTV Acústico. He worked with Elba Ramalho, Caetano Veloso, Jackson do Pandeiro, Raul Seixas, Ney Matogrosso, Nara Leão, Milton Nascimento, Moraes Moreira, Baby do Brasil, Lobão, Edson Cordeiro, Paul Simon, Manu Dibango and Didier Lockwood, and performed with orchestras including the Jazz Sinfônica de São Paulo and the Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre. In 2014 and 2015 he toured Europe, and in 2015 a documentary and São Paulo concert were broadcast by TV Sesc.

He was the son of Pedro Sertanejo and Noêmia Lima e Silva and grew up among the leading accordionists of the Northeast. He composed the baião Sorriso de Samantha for his daughter Samantha. Other details of his private life, including any spouse, were not widely reported. He lived for most of his life in São Paulo.

He spoke often about the place of the accordion in Brazil, saying it had once been looked down on and lacked the professional status of the piano. He credited his father with popularising Northeastern styles under the name forró, describing Luiz Gonzaga as the voice of baião, Jackson do Pandeiro of forró and Pedro Sertanejo of forró pé-de-serra. He regretted that mainstream media gave little space to instrumental music. On stage he used both an acoustic accordion and a MIDI accordion, sometimes playing both at once.

He is remembered as one of the great sanfoneiros Brazil has produced and as a musician who expanded the limits of Northeastern music by fusing it with rock, jazz, blues and classical music. He carried forward the forró tradition of his father in São Paulo while taking the accordion to rock and jazz stages at home and abroad. Fellow musicians from Elba Ramalho to Zeca Baleiro called him a master.

Latin Grammy nomination, Best Brazilian Roots/Regional Album, for Cada um belisca um pouco (2005). Latin Grammy nomination, Best Brazilian Roots Album, for Forró chorado (2012). Prêmio TIM, best album in the instrumental category, for Cada um belisca um pouco (2005), and participation in the 2008 Prêmio TIM tribute to Dominguinhos. CIA Merit Award of the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (2018).

Videos on this page include his performance at the first Rock in Rio in 1985, a Forró de Domingo festival show in Stuttgart, his session with guitarist Nelson Faria on Um Café Lá em Casa, Um Tom para Jobim with Choro Livre, the launch of Forró chorado, a stage moment with Ivete Sangalo, and Nilopolitano with Dominguinhos and Sivuca from Cada um belisca um pouco.

Oswaldinho do Acordeon died on Sunday, 25 October 2026, aged 72. The news was first shared by accordionist Rodolfo Forte and radio host Orlando Camboim, and then confirmed by a statement on his official Instagram profile, which said he "entrou para a história da música" and left an important legacy for Brazilian music. The cause and place of death and details of the funeral were not made public. Tributes came from Chico César, Elba Ramalho, Zeca Baleiro, Nelson Faria, Pedro Miranda and Tato of Falamansa.