Violinist-songwriter-avantnik Jorge Mautner is a longtime friend of tropicalia founders Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, and has kept the eclectic, experimental spirit of that style alive in his own music over the years. Here's a quick look at his work...
Jorge Mautner "Ao Vivo 1972: Para Detonar A Cidade" (Discobertas, 2014)
Jorge Mautner "Para Iluminar A Cidade" (Philips, 1973)
A delightful relic of authentic Brazilian hippie folk-rock. Here Mautner performs live at the Teatro Opinao in Rio de Janeiro, with sparse acoustic accompaniment: his violin, bass, guitar and bongo drums. His style is loose, rambling and playful, and utterly appealing. Vocally, he sounds a bit like Caetano, but shorn of the seriousness and gravity that marks much of Veloso's work. It's a kooky, low-key album, a novel oddity that might have arisen as easily from the margins of the San Francisco freak scene as from Brazilian climes. Includes one song co-written with Caetano ("From Faraway") although all the other songs are by Mautner himself. Anyone who's into marginal, different-sounding, uncommercial art might wanna check this out.
Jorge Mautner "Jorge Mautner" (Polydor, 1974) (LP)
A genuinely cool late-edition tropicalia album, with lots of kooky, eclectic touches, psychedelic-folkie fillips, a hefty hint of glam and a surprisingly sweet groove imbedded at the album's core... It's a lot like Caetano Veloso's nuttier stuff (Mautner's vocals also echo Veloso's accent and tone) with its unlikely mixture of oddball and compelling musicality. Mautner's longtime collaborator Nelson Jacobina co-wrote about half the album and plays guitar throughout, while Gilberto Gil strums some acoustic guitar, along with Tutti Moreno on drums and Roberto Carvalho (Rita Lee's pal) filling in on piano and keyboards. A little goofy, but certainly worth checking out -- an album that deserves it's place in the tropicalia canon. If you like weird, sweet hippie music, give this one a spin.
Jorge Mautner "Mil E Uma Noites De Bagda" (Phonogram, 1976)
Jorge Mautner "Bomba De Estrelas" (WEA, 1981)
Jorge Mautner "Antimaldito" (Polygram, 1985) (LP)
Jorge Mautner & Nelson Jacobina "Arvore Da Vida" (WEA, 1988) (LP)
Jorge Mautner "Pedra Bruta" (Rock Company, 1992)
Jorge Mautner "Estilhacos De Paixao" (Primal Records, 1997)
Jorge Mautner/Various Artists "O Ser Da Tempestade: 40 Anos De Carreira" (Dabliu, 1999)
(Produced by J.C. Costa Netto & Jorge Mautner)
Fans of old Os Mutantes or of Tom Ze's oddball surrealist rantings may enjoy this 2-CD set... An interesting, often goofy collection of songs by an MPB old-timer and musical absurdist... This is divided in two parts, one is a disc of violinist-vocalist Mautner playfully lurching his way through a newly-recorded, sideways-tilted collection of songs, some old, some new, and several which are recognizable from old records by various MPB and tropicalia stars. Those same folks -- including Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa -- pitch in on the second CD, which is made up of their versions of Mautner's songs, including two recordings of "Maracatu Atomico," Gilberto Gil's 1973 original, and a more contemporary version by Chico Science. Mautner's own performances are super-goofy, kinda like once got in the studio he just couldn't resist the opportunity to mug his way through them... The arrangements around his silliness are pretty solid, though, and have a latter-day music-hall feel to them, in the tradition of Ray Davies and the Kinks. Nothing earth-shattering, but worth checking out if you're interested in the history of the whole tropicalia/MPB phenomenon.
Jorge Mautner & Caetano Veloso "Eu Nao Peco Desculpa" (Universal, 2002)
A delightful, deliciously humorous collaboration between Caetano and one of his favorite tropicalia-era pals. Songwriter/violinist Jorge Mautner is not a particularly prolific recording artist, but his work is marked by a certain playful inventiveness, and he and Caetano are clearly both on the same wavelength when they get together, as evidenced on this warm, richly textured and stylistically varied album. Quiet acoustic numbers nestle alongside rollicking Afro-Brazilian samba tunes, jittery rock and mystical ballads. It's all quite good, although some songs worth noting include an interesting remake of Mautner's best-known song, "Maracatu Atomico" (previously heard on Gilberto Gil's 1975 Refrazenda album), a nerve-jangling rock tune ("Tarado") that sounds for all the world like a Portuguese-language Doors song, and the album's opener, "Todo Errado," in which Caetano crafts a flawless American-style country tune (with a few hints of Mexican bandera thrown in for good measure. Another brilliantly creative Caetano album... Recommended! [PS - yes, I know the album art is sideways... so do Caetano and Jorge...]
Jorge Mautner "Revirao" (Gege, 2007)
