He published books on the history of samba music (Feitiço decente, Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2001) and on the work of the poet and pioneer of Brazilian musicology, Mário de Andrade (Mário contra Macunaíma, São Paulo: Vértice, 1988). He co-edited Patrimônio cultural em discussão (Recife: UFPE, 2014), and Samba de roda do Recôncavo baiano (Brasília: IPHAN, 2007). He taught on Brazilian music at the University of Texas in Austin (2007) and at the Indiana University at Bloomington (2015). His current research deals with Brazilian policies on ICH in a comparative perspective. He is spending the academic year 2017-2018 as an associate researcher in the UNESCO Frictions Project, funded by the Brazilian federal agency CAPES.