Ronie & Central Do Brasil – s/t

Ronie Mesquita is most known for his stint as the replacement drummer of Bossa Tres, the group led by the great Luis Carlos Vinhas. Tempted by the lures of the bossa nova boom in America, and partly to escape the newly installed, US funded military regime, he along with many of his contemporaries went abroad to ply their trade. Playing in groups such as Gemini 5 & Bossa Rio (Sergio Mendes’ b group), he toured religiously covering the US, Mexico and Japan.

Returning home in the early 70’s, he was at a crossroad. The demand for trios were at an all time low, safe dinner music was out. The underground was bubbling, with Tropicalia amongst the hottest of topics with his fellow musicians. The extensive travel partaken by said musicians had opened their eyes to many genres of music, and in turn seeped into their creative output.

Feeling ready to step out from the shadows of a decade long sideman, he returned home to assemble a crew of rotating musicans called Central Do Brasil. This lp being the 2nd release of his frontman career. It has elements of his samba jazz drumming roots, but peppered with a contemporary hint of soul. I’m an absolute sucker for the vocal arrangements, assisted by Octavio & Sonia Burnier of Burnier & Cartier fame (their catalogue is also celebrated by moi). Tracks of note include “Remelexo” (DJ Nuts – Cultura Copia), “Atoa, Atoa”, and “Madeira De Lei”.

Not exaclty easy to find as it had a small press run on Tapecar (1975, LPX.27), but worth the effort. My cipher level increased by 15% after I acquired this record.

ps: I hope !!dustygroove!! creative writing 101 paid dividends in my compositional skills.

hear hear: Atoa, Atoa