Early years Brown learned to play various percussion instruments as he grew up and in the 1980s he began to collaborate with other artists. In 1984 he played with
Luís Caldas's band Accordes Verdes, one of the originators of
samba-reggae. In 1985, Luís Caldas recorded "Visão de Cíclope", composed by Carlinhos Brown, and it became one of the hottest songs on Salvador's radio stations. Following this, he composed "Remexer", "O Côco" and "É Difícil" for other artists, and in 1989 he formed part of
Caetano Veloso's band on the record
Estrangeiro, penning a song, "Meia Lua Inteira", that was very successful in Brazil and outside the country. earning him a Caymmi trophy, one of the most important music awards in Bahía, and led to his participation in world tours with
João Gilberto,
Djavan, and João Bosco.
Timbalada In the late 1980s Brown started to form percussion ensembles to unite the people in his hometown. He simply gathered people in the streets and taught them basic percussion patterns. Candeal is a town whose residents share deep roots in Candomblé, a religion African slaves brought to Brazil. The customs and ceremonies shared in this religion brought a lot of drumming into the everyday lives of those living in Candeal. Carlinhos realized this enriched culture was an opportunity for growth. Eventually this gathering of peoples grew into a band called Timbalada which became so popular along with the other band he composed of Candeal residents – Vai Quem Vem (Who Comes, Goes)- that he had to build a concert stadium to hold all the people who came into town to watch them practice. Timbalada recorded eight albums and toured various countries around the world.
Billboard magazine named their debut album the "best record produced in Latin America in 1993". Many of the proceeds went towards fixing up the streets of Candeal by repaving roads and renovating houses. In 1992, Brown appeared on several songs on the album
Ritual Beating System by the project Bahia Black. Organized by prolific producer
Bill Laswell, Bahia Black brought together Brazilian musicians with American jazz players. Also in 1992, Brown composed and performed songs for
Sergio Mendes's
Brasileiro album, his songs for that album including "Fanfarra", "
Magalenha" and "Indiado".
Solo career On the heels of Timbalada's success, in 1996 Brown released a solo album called
Alfagamabetizado, on which he sang, composed, and played the instruments. That year also saw Brown appearing on the album
Roots by the Brazilian
metal band
Sepultura. In 1997, Brown made a cameo appearance performing the song
"A Namorada" (The Girlfriend) in the 1997 American film
Speed 2: Cruise Control, and appeared on the
film's soundtrack. He also appeared in a Brazilian movie,
Navalha na Carne (
Razor in the Flesh). In 1998, he collaborated with
Bonga and
Marisa Monte on the track "Mulemba Xangola" for the AIDS benefit compilation album
Onda Sonora: Red Hot + Lisbon produced by the
Red Hot Organization. Brown's second album,
Omelete Man, was released in 1998, and was followed by a third album,
Bahia do Mundo, Mito e Verdade, in 2001. In 2001, Brown had an infamous appearance at the
Rock in Rio festival. Along with his music not being embraced by a crowd of mostly
Guns N' Roses fans, Brown ordered to shut down the firehoses that sprayed the audience with water in the preceding performance by
Pato Fu to alleviate the intense
Rio de Janeiro heat, making the displeased concertgoers throw water bottles at him during the entire concert. He released
Carlinhos Brown É Carlito Marrón in 2003 and collaborated with DJ Dero on the 2004 album
Candyall Beat. The
Carlito Marrón album achieved considerable success in Spain, where it was repackaged a year later with extra tracks, achieving a hit single "Maria Caipirinha" (with DJ Dero) on the Spanish charts in 2004. Carlinhos Brown remains active in the Salvador da Bahía community, founding the Pracatum Music School in the Candeal neighborhood in 1994 as a non-profit organization dedicated to education, cultural, and community development programs in the city, including a professional music school. In addition, he has his own recording label, Candyall Records. Brown has also begun painting, and his art works have been well received. On 10 April 2007, Carlinhos' album
A Gente Ainda Não Sonhou was released by SonyBMG. It was recorded in Salvador de Bahia between March 2005 and September 2006. Two songs were co-written with Marisa Monte and Arnaldo Antunes. Carlinhos Brown is extensively featured in the 2004 documentary
El Milagro de Candeal. The title is translated as "The Miracle of Candeal" and features the influence and transformation Brown has done for Candeal. What was once considered a dangerous shanty town is now seen as colorful music town. The proceeds of this school along with Timbalada went towards improving health reforms, urban development such as paving the streets that once had overflowing sewer water, and renovating unfinished housing projects. ==Family==