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CD
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ACMEM 047CD
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"Born in Rio De Janeiro in 1932 the composer Rogerio Duprat lived in São Paulo and it was there in the early sixties that he developed an interest in the avant-garde which would soon lead to him studying in Europe with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez. Returning to Brazil, Duprat wrote scores for Walter Hugo Khouri's films and, against the background of military dictatorship, Duprat met the leaders of Tropicália, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil; drawn to the movement by their determination to absorb universal culture and revolutionise Brazilian music. So in 1968, he wrote several arrangements for the seminal Tropicália album which involved Caetano, Gil, Tom Zé, Gal Costa, Os Mutantes, Nara Leão and Torquato Neto and played a decisive role in liberating the sound of the ground-breaking albums of Os Mutantes. Duprat's arrangements are marvellous; intelligent, imaginative, playful and distinctive. He has been called the George Martin of Tropicalia -- the Brian Wilson of Brazil. Rogerio Duprat's solo LP A Banda Tropicalista was released in 1968 when he was at his peak. São Paulo was living a modernist dream, classical music was in the air and so was psychedelia. Duprat audaciously fused these elements. Under Rogerio's skillful auspices, material by John Fred and his playboy band, The Beatles and the Cowsills is harmonised with the compositions of Tom Jobim, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. Os Mutantes perform joyfully on four tracks. Sometimes knockabout, always within an atmosphere of refinement, the album is a cultural mosaic -- a positive happening. In later years Duprat spent time writing jingles but was slowly forced to withdraw from his artistic activities due to hearing problems. He now lives in retirement on his farmhouse in the São Paulo countryside. Today, the work of this important pop composer is being discovered outside of Brazil. Seek out these productions. The name of Rogerio Duprat on any record is the stamp of quality."
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