Fireside Chat

Arthur Verocai

Far Out, Rio de Janeiro

Arthur Verocai made his name as a songwriter in Rio as far back as 1966, and while he was still multi-tasking as a civil engineer, he was arranging sessions for Marcos Valle and Gal Costa and producing LPs for Celia. One of the OG eclecticists, he embraced the sounds of pop, soul, jazz and folk across the Americas, and developed his sweeping orchestral psych-funk sensibility that has led to people comparing him to American dons of the studio such as David Axelrod and Charles Stepney. In 1972 Continental gave him the green light to record a solo LP which became an instant cult-classic - providing the perfect stepping stone between the Tropicalia movement of the 60s and the deep-groove baile funk that was emerging. Making innovative music in 70s Brasil was far from easy - especially with the government's military leanings and opposition to creative expression. Still you can't keep a good composer down, and Arthur opened his own recording facility, Studio V in 1983 - producing and recording for as long as horizons keep rising.