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Arthur Verocai: Mythical Maestro
Text by Muhammad Azka Muharam
Source Photo theguardian.com
Arthur Verocai was born in Rio de Janeiro on 17 June 1945. He is a guitar player, composer, and orchestra conductor. Arthur Verocai began his professional music career in 1969 as music director and guitar player for the show “É a maior.” That same year, he wrote orchestra arrangements and played in Porto Alegre and São Paulo music festivals for the first time. Over the next few years, he orchestrated albums by Ivan Lins, Jorge Ben, Elizeth Cardoso, Gal Costa, Quarteto em Cy, MPB 4, and Marcos Valle.
Creating Music While Brazil Under A Military Dictatorship
Later, Verocai had the production of Ivan Lins’s 1971 album “Agora”; Verocai recorded his self-titled debut album on Continental Records. A forbidding Brazilian military dictatorship frowned on the artistic impression that repressed the country’s youth. He challenged the musical conventions of the day, combining Brazilian influences with folksy soul and lo-fi electronic experimentations of American artists like Shuggie Otis or the orchestration of producer Charles Stepney. His subtle protest experimented with new musical directions and used figurative language to sneak under the censorship radar.
Photograph: Fernando Bergamaschi; used courtesy Now-Again Records
Source Photo tresselos.com
Verocai’s self-titled album transcends the genre of Brazilian music and, in fact, all genres. It was mainly highlighted by the number of artists sampled: MF Doom, Ludacris & Common, Little Brother, Jneiro Jarel aka Dr Who Dat?, Dibiase, and Action Bronson, amongst others.
“I used to listen to Blood Sweat and Tears, Chicago, Stan Kenton, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Web, Frank Zappa, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, and Miles Davis, Milton Nascimento, Bossa Nova, among other things,” explains Arthur Verocai. “In Brazil, we had many musical influences, and by that time, there wasn’t a hegemonic one in the market. In this way, my album reflected a search and musical experimentation. I was in an adventurous mood on this album, which led me to explore new melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic paths”.
Verocai abandoned his short-lived music career. “I started to think it was crazy to have made a record like that back then,” he says. “After all, I was an arranger, and nobody cared about arrangers making records.”
In 2002, he independently released the album Saudade Demais, followed five years later by Encore on the London label Far Out Recordings.
Verocai also collaborated with the Australian jazz-funk band Hiatus Kaiyote – who contrived a mini-tour to Brazil in 2019 to meet Verocai in person and record a song for their 2021 album Mood Valiant – and arranged four new songs by Canadian fusion group BadBadNotGood for the album Talk Memory.
At age 77, Arthur Verocai is still working and playing his music. You can never predict the future, but if you believe in what you create, you will find the way.
Ditulis oleh Muhammad Azka Muharam
Sumber Gambar theguardian.com
Arthur Verocai lahir di Rio de Janeiro pada tanggal 17 Juni 1945. Dia adalah pemain gitar, komposer, dan konduktor orkestra. Arthur Verocai memulai karir musik profesionalnya pada tahun 1969 sebagai pengarah musik dan pemain gitar untuk pertunjukan “É a maior”. Pada tahun yang sama, dia menulis aransemen orkestra dan bermain di festival musik Porto Alegre dan São Paulo untuk pertama kalinya. Selama beberapa tahun berikutnya, dia memproduseri album dari Ivan Lins, Jorge Ben, Elizeth Cardoso, Gal Costa, Quarteto em Cy, MPB 4, dan Marcos Valle.
Bermusik Saat Brasil Di Bawah Kediktatoran Militer
Selanjutnya, Verocai memproduseri album Ivan Lins tahun 1971 “Agora”; Verocai merekam album debut self-titled-nya di Continental Records. Pada saat itu, kediktatoran militer Brasil melarang dan tidak menyukai segala bentuk artistik sehingga menekan para anak muda Brasil saat itu. Dia menantang konvensi musik pada masa itu, menggabungkan pengaruh Brasil dengan jiwa sederhana dan eksperimen elektronik lo-fi dari artis Amerika seperti Shuggie Otis atau orkestrasi produser Charles Stepney. Protes halusnya bereksperimen dengan arahan musik baru dan menggunakan bahasa kiasan untuk menyelinap di bawah radar.
Fotograger: Fernando Bergamaschi
Sumber gambar tresselos.com
Album self-titled Verocai melampaui genre musik Brasil dan, faktanya, semua genre. Itu terutama disorot oleh jumlah artis yang men-sampel: MF Doom, Ludacris & Common, Little Brother, Jneiro Jarel alias Dr Who Dat?, Dibiase, dan Action Bronson.
“Saya dulu sering mendengarkan Blood Sweat and Tears, Chicago, Stan Kenton, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Web, Frank Zappa, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, dan Miles Davis, Milton Nascimento, Bossa Nova, antara lain,” jelas Arthur Verocai. “Di Brasil, kami memiliki banyak pengaruh musik, dan pada saat itu, tidak ada yang hegemonik di pasar. Dengan cara ini, album saya mencerminkan pencarian dan eksperimen musik. Saya berada dalam suasana petualang di album ini, yang mana membuat saya menjelajahi jalur melodi, harmonik, dan ritmis baru”.
Verocai meninggalkan karir musiknya yang berumur pendek. “Saya mulai berpikir gila membuat rekaman seperti itu saat itu,” katanya. “Lagipula, saya adalah seorang arranger, dan tidak ada yang peduli tentang arranger yang membuat rekaman.”
Pada tahun 2002, dia secara independen merilis album Saudade Demais, diikuti lima tahun kemudian oleh Encore di label London Far Out Recordings.
Verocai juga berkolaborasi dengan band jazz-funk Australia Hiatus Kaiyote – yang membuat tur mini ke Brasil pada tahun 2019 untuk bertemu langsung dengan Verocai dan merekam lagu untuk album 2021 mereka Mood Valiant – dan mengaransemen empat lagu baru oleh grup fusion Kanada BadBadNotGood untuk album Talk Memory.
Di usia 77 tahun, Arthur Verocai masih berkarya dan memainkan musiknya. Anda tidak pernah bisa memprediksi masa depan, tetapi jika Anda percaya pada apa yang Anda buat, Anda akan menemukan jalannya.
