Antônio Pecci Filho (born July 6, 1946), better known as Toquinho (Portuguese pronunciation:[toˈkĩɲu]), is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is well known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.[1]
Childhood and musical studies
Toquinho was born in São Paulo, the son of Italian immigrants Diva Bondioli and Antonio Pecci. He has one brother, João Carlos Pecci. His paternal grandfather was from Toro[2] and his paternal grandmother was born in Calabria; his maternal grandparents were from Mantua.[3] As he was very short as a child, his mother used to call him "meu toquinho de gente" ("my piece of person"), which was the origin of his nickname.
His first guitar lessons were with Dona Aurora, a piano teacher who also knew how to play guitar. However, she could not continue to teach Toquinho. At age 14, he began lessons with Paulinho Nogueira and went on to study harmony with Edgar Gianulo, classical guitar with Isaias Sávio and orchestration with Léo Peracchi. He also studied with and befriended Oscar Castro-Neves.
Career
Initially playing in colleges, Toquinho's professional career took off in the 1960s at shows promoted by radio personality Walter Silva at the famous Paramount theater in São Paulo. He composed his first recorded song with Chico Buarque entitled "Lua Cheia" (Full Moon).[1] His first big hit was composed in 1970 with Jorge Benjor, "Que Maravilha" (What a Wonder).
That same year he was invited by Vinicius de Moraes, co-writer of the worldwide hit "Garota de Ipanema" (The Girl from Ipanema), to participate in a series of shows in Buenos Aires, forming a solid partnership that would continue for 11 years and produce 120 songs, 25 records and over a thousand shows. After the death of Vinicius de Moraes in 1980, Toquinho went on to pursue a solo career, often performing with other talented musicians like Paulinho da Viola, Danilo Caymmi, Paulinho Nogueira and Chico Buarque.
Throughout his career, Toquinho composed songs for children, and recorded five albums for young audiences, including Arca de Noé (1980), with Vinicius de Moraes, and Casa de brinquedos (1983). Toquinho continues to record and play, and he remains popular in Brazil and Italy.[4]
Gildo De Stefano, Il popolo del samba. La vicenda e i protagonisti della storia della brazilian popular music, preface by Chico Buarque de Holanda, introduction by Gianni Minà, RAI Television Editions, Rome, 2005. ISBN8839713484
João Carlos Pecci and Wagner Homem, Toquinho, Histórias de canções, Texto Editores Ltda., Sao Paulo, 2010. ISBN978 8562936708
Gildo De Stefano, Saudade Bossa Nova: musiche, contaminazioni e ritmi del Brasil, preface by Chico Buarque, introduction by Gianni Minà, Logisma Editore, Florence, 2017. ISBN978-88-97530-88-6
^The Toquinho Toro Festival is held there for some years, in 2010, was sponsored by the Ministero per i Beni Culturali and the Brazilian Embassy in Rome
