Tribo de Jah was formed by four blind musicians and a fifth one with partial vision in one eye. They met at the School for Blinds of Maranhão where they were interns. As therapy, the five of them started to play music and build their own instruments. After they were doing shows at the capital of Maranhão, São Luiz, and also at upstate cities, they were spotted by radio man Fauzi Beydoun, who took over the vocals and gave them support. Encouraged by the strong reggae movement of Maranhão, they started to write their own material, strongly oriented toward social issues and also encompassing messages of peace, love, and religiosity. In 1995, the Tribo de Jah performed at the most important venue of the genre, the Reggae Sunsplash Festival (Jamaica). They have been performing all around Brazil, from North to South, including the 2001 Rock in Rio III Festival, Canecão, and Metropolitan Halls in Rio and Palace and Olimpia in São Paulo. The group also performed in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Caiena (French Guyana), France, and Italy, having received a gold record for their fourth album, Reggae na Estrada (1998). ~ Alvaro Neder