At 18, he won a popular music contest in São Paulo with his march "Isso Mesmo é Que Eu Quero." Genésio recorded him for the first time with the song "Deixei De Ser Otário" which was included in the film #Acabaram-se Os Otários in 1929. Soon Francisco Alves recorded his "Arranjei Outra." The samba "Silêncio," which won a contest in the newspaper Correio da Manhã with 16,741 votes, was recorded by Luís Barbosa and Vitório Lattari and included in the revue Bibelot. In 1932, he was introduced to Noel Rosa by Eduardo Souto and showed him a song on the spot which, upon receiving lyrics by the master of the Vila Isabel, became the first of the ten precious jewels the duo would come with: the samba "Feitio De Oração," soon recorded by Francisco Alves. With Germano Augusto, the duo wrote "Feitiço da Vila"; "Provei," "Quantos Beijos," "Só Pode Ser Você," "Conversa De Botequim," "Cem-mil Réis," "Tarzan, o Filho do Alfaiate," "Pra Que Mentir," "Mais Um Samba Popular," and the jingle "A Marcha do Dragão."
In 1934, Vadico was hired by Luís Americano to play at the Lido. Later, with the departure of Americano, Vadico became the orchestra leader. In 1938, he worked in the Cassino Tênis Clube of Petrópolis, returning in 1939, 20 days before he departed for the U.S.A. with Simon Bountman's orchestra to play in the Brazilian Pavilion of the New York's World Fair. At the end of it, Bountman returned with his orchestra, but Vadico stayed.
Moving to California, he worked with Carmen Miranda and the Bando da Lua until 1945, appearing in several films with that group, as percussionist, even though he had recorded the piano parts of the soundtrack previously. Leaving Miranda, he played with several American orchestras. In 1948, he accompanied Miranda in a season in London. Returning to the U.S.A., he settled in New York. In the following year, he joined dancer Katherine Dunham, touring in her company through France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy. As the company's orchestra director, he performed on Broadway and toured through South America, in Recife, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Santiago do Chile, Mar del Plata, Lima, Quito, Cali, Bogota, Medellin, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Caracas, and Jamaica. He then left the company and returned to America.
In 1954, Vadico came back to Brazil. Two years later, he opened at the Casablanca with the Os Copacabana. After that, he became a session pianist and wrote orchestral scores for Continental and Rádio Mayrink Veiga. Vadico continued to write important pieces and was recorded by several interpreters, among them was Leny Eversong. ~ Alvaro Neder, Rovi