A major figure in contemporary Brazilian popular music, Seu Jorge released his first album of original songs in a decade, Baile à la Baiana, on February 16th. Exactly six months later, on August 16th, he’ll present it in Portugal with a concert at Hipódromo Manuel Possolo in Cascais. Tickets range from €35 to €110.
As the title suggests, Baile à la Baiana is deeply inspired by the music of Bahia — the oldest state in Brazil, home to one of the country’s largest Black populations and a place where African ancestry is profoundly present in its culture and history.
Seu Jorge collaborated with local musicians like Magary Lord and Peu Meurray to explore a vibrant, danceable Brazilian “afro pop” sound — fast-paced, joyful, full of rhythm yet acoustic. The word baile in the title also nods to Rio de Janeiro, Seu Jorge’s hometown, where the samba tradition meets soul, funk, and other Black music genres.
In an interview with Time Out, the 54-year-old musician talks about the new album and looks ahead to his upcoming show in Cascais, a place that holds deep personal meaning for him, linked to one of the most important people in his life: his mother.
Are you excited to return to Portugal, and especially to Cascais? I know you have a special connection to the town.
Wow, yes. It was where my mother took her first international trip — her first time leaving Brazil, and it was purely for leisure. I had rented a house and was planning to spend some time in Portugal, where road-tripping is a joy. I had concerts lined up, so I’d be away for a few days and then come back home. And during that time, I discovered so much about my mother, as a person who had lived a fast-paced life. That moment allowed it. I remember her pride — the achievement of travelling abroad — and my own achievement of making that happen for her. And it was exactly as I had imagined: we were together, not just catching up in between my commitments. We truly lived it.
So Cascais has become a place tied to that memory.
Yes, Cascais will stay with me for the rest of my life because of this person who is so vital to my existence and is now nearing the end of her own life. Cascais eternalises my mother, that moment, and that feeling of pure joy and connection.
So this year’s show will be a special one.
And I’m actually thinking of bringing my mother along to see the concert.
The show will be a journey through your career, but also an introduction to the new album, I imagine.
Exactly. It will be a presentation of the new album, and I hope that by then, it will already feel familiar to the Portuguese audience. We always want to reach as many people as possible, and by the time we get to Portugal, I hope the songs will already be part of the audience’s lives. But of course, I’ll also revisit the hits that helped establish my career. It’s amazing to have this connection over the years — you realise how much your repertoire grows, and the audience chooses their favourites. And now, we’re about to build a new relationship through Baile à la Baiana. Bringing a brand-new album is a unique opportunity — it shows you’re still thriving, still with something to say…
At this stage in your life and career, what drew you to Bahia to create this album?
Bahia is very close to me — through heritage, through ancestry. It’s Brazil’s first land, where our history began. And in my mind, Bahia holds the status of a Little Africa. My entire ancestry is rooted in African identity. I can’t see myself as Brazilian without first seeing myself as African. And so much of that lost identity still lives in Bahia, especially in Salvador. It’s a city where 87% of the population is Black. Its essence as a city is Black. Its music is both brilliant and spontaneous — the rhythms, the preservation, the way people express themselves…
Rio has that same energy, in the suburbs, in the more working-class neighbourhoods, where Black culture thrives through soul and funk. I carry that musical legacy — Tim Maia, Jorge Ben Jor, Banda Black Rio, Lady Zu… And then I had this friendship with Peu Meurray and Magary Lord, who represent the contemporary version of all that, and it made sense to create Baile à la Baiana.
The word baile is a typical expression in Rio, and I paired it with Baiana to reflect a dance rooted in the flavours of Salvador, Bahia, and Africa. We’re exploring a Brazilian afro pop, strengthening the idea that there’s a vibrant, high-energy, electro-acoustic-pop scene here. Dance music today is often more electronic, but we have the pulse of the drums, the beats, Magary’s percussion, Peu Meurray’s pneus (his signature rubber drum sound), my guitar, inspired by Jorge Ben, and those classic samba rhythms. It’s an album that starts at 120 BPM and up — it’s all about joy and celebration.
It’s definitely a festive, danceable album.
Absolutely. What better music to bring to a festival, where people come for these emotions, to celebrate life, to welcome the sun? That ritual of celebrating the sun is ancient. When summer arrives, everyone wants to gather — at the beach, at festivals, in the cities. People want to be together!
And now we have Carnival, four days to be whoever you want. If you want to be a pirate, you’ve got four days to pillage whatever you like! If you want to be Colombina, go for it! And music is at the heart of it all.
We can’t forget that art can be a powerful tool for protest. But its main role is to bring joy, to seek beauty, to connect with spirituality, to spark new ideas. I truly believe art was made for that. There’s this repressed idea that art should exist for beauty and well-being — but that’s exactly what it’s about, too.
Was this album something you had been planning for a while? Or was there a specific reason you wanted to explore this sound now?
That was exactly it — to create this synergy, to break down these divisions. “Rio is better,” “Bahia is better”… We tear all that down. And music lets you discover yourself through rhythm, through melody, through the act of sharing that melody. In the sound, in the tones, in the smiles that appear, in the way bodies react — someone smiles, someone else smiles back, a wave rises, and suddenly, they’re together, without even realising it was music that created that moment of connection.
Was it especially important, at this moment in time, to make an album that’s joyful and danceable?
It had been ten years since my last album. I had been releasing songs with friends, working in film, doing concerts. And after a decade, it felt right to create an album full of joy, something lighter. We’ve been through one of the hardest moments in modern history — the pandemic. It shook the world. We need to live with less rigidity, connect more. That’s how I felt.
When I first returned to performing, which was in Portugal, people were starving for that connection. They were overjoyed to experience live music again. In Brazil, I even played drive-in shows — people stayed in their cars. They just wanted to be outside. It felt like one of those dystopian streaming series — everyone distant, glued to their phones.
And now we can experience life fully again—hugging, kissing, going to festivals. I didn’t want to be left out of that. Honestly, if I could, I’d be in the audience myself! [laughs] A lot of us musicians end up jumping into the crowd, mic in hand, because it’s just irresistible. It’s all about the encounter — that’s what music is really about.
Hipódromo Manuel Possolo (Cascais). 16 Aug (Sat). 22.00. €35-€110
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