Dispararon al pianista

Francisco Tenório Cerqueira Júnior was born in Rio de Janeiro and was one of the most recognized pianists of the samba-jazz movement. He used to play in Copacabana, cradle of the best Brazilian music, and was part of Os Cobras, a highly prestigious instrumental band. At three in the morning on March 18, 1976, after giving a concert at the Gran Rex in Buenos Aires with Vinicius de Moraes and Toquinho, the pianist went out for cigarettes and medicine. That would be the last time he would be seen alive: Tenório Junior never returned to the hotel where he was staying. He was 34 years old. What happened that night? This is the question that moves the narrator of They Shot the Piano Player to initiate an investigation into the fateful event that ended the life of a musician destined to change the course of Brazilian music forever.