arthur verocai: encore

Far Out Recordings present the ten-year anniversary of Arthur Verocai's Encore, originally released in 2007. Encore features 11 original compositions from Arthur Verocai with guest musicians including Azymuth, Ivan Lins, and a nine-piece string section. The highly anticipated follow-up to Arthur's eponymous debut album from 1972, Encore saw Arthur joining the dots over 35 years to create a modern classic of Brazilian music that, like his debut, combines Brazilian influences with his take on American soul and cinematic experimentation, and shows that Arthur's sound is as poignant as it ever was. In the mid-2000s, following on from Marcos Valle, Joyce, and of course Azymuth, Arthur Verocai joined the long-line of Brazilian musicians whose music was to be introduced to a whole new legion of fans by Far Out Recordings. The story of Encore begins with Joe Davis, Far Out Recordings' head honcho who stumbled upon Arthur's debut in a dusty record store in downtown Rio in the late '80s. At the time of its release in 1972, critics panned Arthur's debut and both the album and artist subsequently vanished into obscurity. Fast forward to winter 2004 and Joe's at the studio of Far Out Recording artists Harmonic 313 -- aka production duo Mark "Troubleman" Pritchard and Dave Brinkworth -- playing them some of his favorite Brazilian albums. Dave recalls the moment Joe put on Arthur's debut, "As soon as the needle hit the record and we heard the fantastic arrangements, songs and sounds, Arthur completely blew our minds." Three months later and Dave was in Brazil with Arthur Verocai, and the plans for what was to become Encore were being laid down. Produced by Dave, Encore sees Arthur on incredible form, the 35 plus years between the recording of his debut and this the follow-up just melting away as Arthur picked up the (conductor's) baton once again to create 11 epic tracks of stirring samba-soul and experimental cinematic movements that sees him creating a record to rival his debut.