Arthur Verocai

Classically trained musician Arthur Verocai (born on June 17, 1945 in Rio de Janeiro) is a guitarist, pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor who began his musical career as the musical director and guitarist for the Brazilian TV show É a Maior in 1969. He wrote arrangements for the band of the show which featured in festivals throughout Brazil. At the same time, he began orchestrating albums for other artists including Marcos Valle, Ivan Lins, Jorge Ben, Elizete Cardoso, and Gal Costa. He went on to work for TV Globo, Brazil's largest TV station, as their musical director, arranging music for Chico City and A Grande Família. He also composed music for adverts for companies including Brahma, Petrobrás, Fanta and Sul América. Arthur Verocai released his first self-titled solo album, a mixture of Brazilian tropicália and American funk, in 1972. The music drew on folk, jazz, and pop traditions and was progressive in style, featuring new rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic patterns. Tracks included "Na Boca Do Sol", "Pelas Sombras" and "Presente Grego". Owing in part to the Brazilian Dictatorship at the time, the record was not well received and lay forgotten for some years. It was not until the early 2000s that other artists such as Little Brother, MF Doom, and Ludacris started to notice Arthur Verocai's work and include samples of some of his tracks in their music. In 2002, the LP Arthur Verocai was discovered by Joe Davis of Far Out Recordings who shared it with the production team of Dave Brinkworth and Mark Pritchard, who were immediately transfixed by the music. Dave Brinkworth and Arthur Verocai got together and produced a re-release of the album in 2002 which led to a surge of popularity for Arthur Verocai. He then self-published the album Saudade Demais in 2002 and worked with Dave Brinkworth to release the album Encore, featuring Asymuth and Ivan Lins in 2007. This was followed by a release in 2010 of the album Timeless Arthur Verocai and in 2016 No Voo Do Urubu, following a performance at the closing ceremony at the 2016 Paralympic Games. Part of Mochilla’s Timeless series, a new live album emerged for Record Store Day 2021, which was released digitally in 2022. On Mochilla Presents: Timeless Arthur Verocai, the Brazilian icon steers a full orchestra through his self-titled 1972 album.