Arthur Cortes Verocai (born June 17, 1945) is a Brazilian composer, singer, and producer. He is best known for his 1972 self-titled debut album which garnered a cult following during the 2000s in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Career

In the 1960s and 1970s, Verocai arranged music for artists like

Jorge Ben Jorge Duílio Lima Menezes (born March 22, 1939) is a Brazilian popular musician, performing under the stage name Jorge Ben Jor since the 1980s, though commonly known by his former stage name Jorge Ben (). His characteristic style fuses samba ...

Gal Costa Gal Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos (born Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos; 26 September 1945 – 9 November 2022), known professionally as Gal Costa (), was a Brazilian singer of popular music. She was one of the main figures of the tro ...

Elis Regina Elis Regina Carvalho Costa (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 2002), known professionally as Elis Regina (), was a Brazilian singer of MPB and jazz music. She is also the mother of the singers Maria Rita and Pedro Mariano. She became national ...

Ivan Lins Ivan Guimarães Lins (born June 16, 1945) is a Latin Grammy-winning Brazilian musician. He has been an active performer and songwriter of Brazilian popular music (MPB) and jazz for over thirty years. His first hit, "Madalena", was recorded by ...

Marcos Valle Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Nélson Marcos, Portug ...

Quarteto em Cy Quarteto em Cy (a play on words of the Portuguese for ''Quartet in B'' by poet and lyricist Vinicius de Moraes) is a Brazilian girl group originally composed of four sisters hailing from Ibirataia, a town located in the Brazilian state of Bah ...

, O Terço, and Célia. In 1972, Verocai released his debut self-titled album which he describes as "samba mixed with soul." It contrasted with the music of

Tim Maia Tim Maia (, born Sebastião Rodrigues Maia; September 28, 1942 – March 15, 1998) was a Brazilian musician, songwriter, and businessman known for his iconoclastic, ironic, outspoken, and humorous musical style. Maia contributed to Brazilian mus ...

, who pioneered the sound of Brazilian soul at the time. Verocai's influences for the album were anywhere from jazz musicians like

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

, Bill Evans, and

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a dist ...

to classical artists like

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

and Heitor Villa-Lobos to American funk and rock musicians like

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Frank Zappa, and

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", " By the Time I Get to Phoenix", " MacArthur Park", " Wichita Lineman", " Wo ...

. Verocai has described himself as "a son of bossa," and was highly influenced by the bossa nova pieces of composers and singers like

Tom Jobim Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

and

Leny Andrade Leny de Andrade Lima, known professionally as Leny Andrade, was born in Rio de Janeiro, on January 26, 1943, and is a Brazilian singer and musician. Both Andrade's first and last names are sometimes misspelled in English as "Lenn", "Leni", and "A ...

which can be seen especially on tracks "Velho Parente" and "Que Mapa." The album was largely ignored in Brazil when it was released which led Verocai to stop composing for 30 years and switch to arranging

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s for adverting instead. In the 2000s though, the album started to achieve a cult-status, with some original vinyl copies selling for £2,000. In 2009, he performed his 1972 album with a 30-piece orchestra at

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

's Luckman Theater in Los Angeles.

Influence

Verocai has been cited as an influence by

TV on the Radio TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and ...

Cut Chemist Lucas MacFadden (born October 4, 1972), better known as Cut Chemist, is an American DJ and record producer. He is a former member of Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli. He has collaborated with DJ Shadow on a number of projects. Early life Cut Chemist grad ...

MF DOOM Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...

Madlib Otis Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American DJ, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. He is widely known for his collaborations with MF DOOM (as Madvillain), J Dilla (as Jaylib), ...

, and

BADBADNOTGOOD BadBadNotGood (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian instrumental band and production team from Toronto, Canada. The group was founded in 2010 by bassist Chester Hansen, keyboardist Matthew Tavares, and drummer Alexander Sowinski. In 2016, they w ...

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

As featured artist

Hiatus Kaiyote Hiatus Kaiyote () is an Australian jazz/funk band formed in Melbourne in 2011, made up of singer/guitarist Nai Palm, bassist Paul Bender, keyboardist Simon Mavin, and drummer Perrin Moss. History 2011–2013: Formation and ''Tawk Tomahawk'' I ...

– “Get Sun” from ''

Mood Valiant ''Mood Valiant'' is the third studio album by Australian neo-soul quartet Hiatus Kaiyote, released in 2021 on Brainfeeder. The album peaked at number 4 on the ARIA charts. At the 2021 ARIA Music Awards, the album was nominated for Best Soul/ ...

'' (Australia, 2021); arranger * Flor – "Sapiens" (Brazil, 2021) *

BadBadNotGood BadBadNotGood (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian instrumental band and production team from Toronto, Canada. The group was founded in 2010 by bassist Chester Hansen, keyboardist Matthew Tavares, and drummer Alexander Sowinski. In 2016, they w ...

– '' Talk Memory'' (Canada, 2021); arranger

References

External links

AllMusic biography

at Ubiquity Records 20th-century Brazilian musicians 21st-century Brazilian musicians 20th-century composers 1945 births Brazilian jazz guitarists Brazilian male guitarists Brazilian songwriters Latin music composers Living people Male jazz musicians Música popular brasileira musical groups 20th-century male musicians 21st-century male musicians Far Out Recordings artists {{Brazil-musician-stub