Arthur Verocai

Brazilian folk-jazz composer and arranger Arthur Verocai (Rio de Janeiro,1945) enjoyed a classical music education and first gained popular attention in 1966 when Leny Andrade recorded his song Olhando o Mar for her We Are There album. Verocai embraced the current pop, soul and jazz sounds emerging on both sides of the equator and over time developed his captivating orchestral psych-funk. While collaborating with artists like Paulinho Tapajós, Elis Regina and Creuza Maria, he worked as a civil engineer until 1969. He scored the music for the theatre production Is the Greater and wrote arrangements for Gal Costa, Marcos Valle, Quarteto Em Cy, Erasmo Carlos, Jorge Ben and others. After producing several albums for singer Célia and Ivan Lins' 1971 Agora - and writing soundtracks for a number of Brazilian TV shows - Verocai signed with the Continental label to record a solo album. This resulted in a highly innovative work that effectively bridged the gap between the tropicalia of the late 1960s and the deep-groove funk of the decade that followed. The album was released in 1972 in a period marked by the Brazilian military government’s suppression of creative expression. The album did poorly, and Verocai focussed on advertising music, but it went on to become a cult classic years later.