Rogê
Curyman
★★★★
DIAMOND WEST. CD/DL/LP
Funky Brazilian singersongwriter makes authentic samba-psych throwback.
Recording since 2003, Rogê matured across a string of increasingly confident albums in Brazil, morphing from funk pop to samba and excellent collaborations with Arlindo Cruz (Na Veia) in 2015 and Seu Jorge (Night Dreamer) in 2020, by which time, mindful of the violence and corruption affecting Rio, he’d moved his family to LA. There he met guitarist and producer Tommy Brenneck of The Budos Band and Daptone, who invited him to cut an old school, live-in-the-room album. Fifteen demos were laid down in a single night and final tracks in three days. Rogê then asked venerable friend Arthur Verocai to overdub strings in Brazil. The result: warm, inviting, classic-sounding Braziliana for fans of Ben, Valle, Veloso etc at their ’70s peak, especially the hushed-thenstirring Retumbar Do Meu Tambor, the grooving Mistério Da Raça and the limpid Se Eu For Falar De Amor.