Brazilian popular music rooted in the musical traditions of Northeast Brazil, with a distinctive sound shaped by voices, flute and viola caipira.

Banda de Pau e Corda makes Brazilian music rooted in Pernambuco’s cultural traditions, bringing together poetry, vocal arrangements, flute, Brazilian viola, acoustic guitar, bass and drums. Founded in Recife in December 1972, the group developed an approach to songwriting that connects rural influences with urban life. Songs such as Esperança, Caminhada, Flor d’Água and Vivência form part of a repertoire that continues to grow through new recordings and collaborations with artists across generations.

The band made its debut at Bar Olho Nu, a meeting place for university students, amid exchanges between music, literature, theatre and the visual arts. Toinho Alves of Quinteto Violado suggested its name. In 1973, RCA Victor released the debut album Vivência, with sleeve notes by Gilberto Freyre. Productions including Vivência, Redenção and Alegoria subsequently took the group to stages across Northeast Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, where it performed a season at the Museum of Modern Art, and São Paulo. Texts by João Cabral de Melo Neto, Carlos Pena Filho and Zé Limeira became part of its performances.

During the 1970s, the band contributed to the renewal of Brazilian popular music emerging from Recife. In 1976, it appeared in Palavrão alongside Rolando Boldrin and Antônio Abujamra and helped establish Carnaval de Boa Viagem. Albums including Arruar (1978) and Frevo – Pelas Ruas do Recife (1979) expanded its artistic connections, with collaborators such as Toninho Horta, Tavinho Moura, Banda de Pífanos de Caruaru and Elifas Andreato. It also gained national exposure through Ponto de Encontro on TV Cultura and the MPB Shell festival.

In the 1980s and 1990s, it released albums including Coisa da Gente, O Outro Lado da Banda and Cristalina (1992). Its Carnival performances strengthened its connection with frevo, the music of Pernambuco’s Carnival. In the following decades, it continued performing and developing special projects, represented Brazil on a cultural mission to Algeria in 2006 and took part in the Lusophony Festival in Macau, China, in 2008. In Brazil, it joined projects including Violando Fronteiras, Vox Brasilis at CCBB Brasília and São Paulo’s Virada Cultural.

The deaths of founding members Roberto Andrade and Paulinho Rezende in 2017 marked a change in the group’s history. From 2018, the band began a new period of recording and touring. Recorded in Belo Horizonte, 45 Anos ao Vivo was released by Kuarup in 2019. In 2021, Biscoito Fino released Missão do Cantador, its first album of new songs since Cristalina, and Na Estrada – Ao Vivo, recorded with Quinteto Violado. The latter received a Latin Grammy nomination in 2022 for Best Portuguese Language Roots Album.

Entre a Flor e a Cruz (2023) features Lenine, Fagner, Marcos Valle, Padre Fábio de Melo and Juliana Linhares, bringing songs from different periods of the band’s history together with new interpretations and repertoire. Subsequent collaborations with Spok, Roça Nova, Arthus Fochi, Mestre Gennaro and Xangai have expanded that network. Recent releases include Na Asa do Vento, Frevo do Hospício, Sonhos de uma Noite de São João and Piuí.

The band continues to perform at theatres, festivals and cultural venues across Brazil, including Sesc São Paulo, Espaço Cultural BNDES and CAIXA Cultural. Both of its 2026 performances at Teatro do Sesc Bom Retiro in São Paulo, featuring Xangai, sold out.

Its current line-up comprises Sérgio Andrade, Júlio Rangel, Sérgio Eduardo, Yko Brasil, Zé Freire and Alexandre Baros. Through its arrangements and ensemble vocals, the group develops new interpretations of its catalogue, performs songs by other writers and introduces new material. Its Pernambuco roots continue to inform an active creative practice and its relationship with audiences for Brazilian music.