Mestre Gajé

José Isidro de Carvalho, known as Mestre Gajé, was born in 1951 in Conceição da Feira, a small town in the Recôncavo Baiano. He learned capoeira as a child in the Boa Vista de São Caetano neighborhood of Salvador from Mestre Nagé (José Anastácio de Santana), the legendary valente who would later be immortalized in Jorge Amado's novel "Os Pastores da Noite" and die defending himself against five men in 1958. The young Gajé absorbed what he could before Nagé's death, when Gajé was only seven years old.

Later, Gajé was inspired and further shaped by the capoeira at Mercado Modelo, learning from Mestres Noronha and Totonho de Maré—two of the four founding "owners and proprietors" of Gengibirra, the first organized Capoeira Angola center in Bahia. Through these connections, Gajé inherited a direct link to the founding generation of organized capoeira.

By 1961, around age ten, Gajé became a fixture at the Mercado Modelo—the historic market in Salvador's Cidade Baixa that has hosted perhaps the oldest continuous street roda in capoeira history. The Mercado Modelo roda, running since at least the 1960s and likely earlier, produced talents like Dois de Ouro and DiMola.

In 1968, at age seventeen, Gajé appeared in the documentary "Dança de Guerra" directed by Jair Moura. A photograph from the film's production at the port of Salvador shows him alongside Domingos André dos Santos (DiMola), Daniel Coutinho (Noronha), Antônio Laurindo das Neves (Totonho de Maré), and Manoel Olimpio de Souza (Índio do Mercado Modelo), with João Grande, Jair Moura, and João Pequeno crouching in front. This image captures Gajé's integration into the elite circle of traditional mestres at a remarkably young age.

Gajé became renowned not only for his game but for his powerful songs. His composition "Quando Eu Chego no Mercado Modelo" became widely known in the capoeira community. In the song, he claims to be "Capoeira and Batuquege" to a group waiting for him at the night market. His 2006 CD "Capoeira" featured tracks honoring the tradition: "Mercado Modelo," "Mestre Bimba No Terreiro De Jesus," "Pastinha Bimba E Gato," and others. In 2017, he recorded "Viajando o Mundo Inteiro" in Germany, including his signature song in both original and reggae versions, plus an interview telling his story.

Gajé collaborated extensively with Mestre Valu, together recording the album "Mercado Modelo" which became beloved in the global capoeira community. One practitioner recalled getting the cassette tape around 2000 after starting capoeira in Spain in 1997, calling it "our precious stone" for its history and musicality.

Today, Gajé is the oldest mestre at the Mercado Modelo and serves as the representative of capoeira de rua in the Associação Brasileira de Capoeira Angola. He teaches at the Associação de Capoeira Crescendo e Aprendendo a Meia Lua do Mestre Gajé, located at 4ª Travessa Rua St. Antonio da Glória in the Pau Miúdo neighborhood of Salvador. He also maintains a point for exhibition and sale of capoeira articles at Praça da Sé.

On July 4, 2024, Gajé represented capoeira de rua at the inauguration of the Arena da Capoeira, a monumental sculpture in Salvador's Comércio district facing the Mercado Modelo. The Arena honored ten historical mestres—Pastinha, Bimba, Besouro, Noronha, Waldemar, Canjiquinha, Gato Preto, Caiçara, Aberrê, and Totonho—selected by online community vote.

At the ceremony, Gajé declared: "Eu, como representante da capoeira de rua, 63 anos de capoeira no Mercado Modelo, estou feliz e realizado, pois a capoeira está agora no mundo. Aquilo ali está repercutindo no mundo. Essa homenagem é para todos nós, [capoeiras de] Angola, regional, contemporânea, para toda vida e para todos os baianos." (I, as representative of street capoeira, 63 years of capoeira at Mercado Modelo, am happy and fulfilled, because capoeira is now in the world. That there is resonating across the world. This homage is for all of us—Angola, Regional, contemporary—for life and for all Bahians.)

His international recognition continues. In May 2022, he visited Grupo Senzala London for workshops in capoeira and maculelê, launching his CD "Viajando o Mundo Inteiro." In May 2024, he visited Mojubá, singing many of his songs in what was described as a "very special" evening. A documentary about his life is available in Portuguese.