Alceu Valença was born in São Bento do Una in Northeast Brazil. When he was young, he used to listen songs by Dalva de Oliveira, Orlando Silva, Sílvio Caldas etc. When he was 5 years old, he participated in a music contest, singing a song by Capiba. Some years later, his mother got sick and his family moved to Recife to live in his aunt's house. In this period, Valença got interested in some musical instruments, such as acoustic guitar and viola. However, he only won his own guitar when he was 15.[1]
In 1970, Valença earned a law degree at the Recife Law School.[1] However, he only followed the career for a few of months. In fact, in the early 1970s, the reason he had no time for a law career was that he had already launched into a musical direction.[2]
He started his musical career in 1968, with the group Underground Tamarineira Village, later known as Ave Sangria. He also played with Zé Ramalho and Elba Ramalho during this period. In 1972, he joined Geraldo Azevedo. Together, they participated of many festivals and, in that same years, recorded their first album: Alceu Valença & Geraldo Azevedo, also known as Quadrafônico.[1][2]
Along his career, Valença recorded more than 20 albums and travelled around many countries, such as Portugal, France and United States. Actually, he is considered one of the greatest exponents of the music of Pernambuco.[3]
Finally, with the 2013 release of Três Tons de Alceu Valença, a box with the oldies Cinco Sentidos (1981), Anjo Avesso (1983) and Mágico (1984) all of Alceu Valença's solo work is available on CD. In 2014, his album Amigo da Arte was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Best Brazilian Roots Album.[4]
