Although perhaps not a household name like Sergio Mendes, Marcos Valle or Flora Purim, Bororó is considered to be one of the most important and talented Brazilian musicians of his time. Taking his moniker from the indigenous people of his country, who live in the state of Mato Grosso, Bororó steadily built his career for well over a quarter of a century, along the way performing live and in the studio with such legends as Gal Costa, Milton Nascimento and Caetano Veloso. Born Dimerval Felipe da Silva in 1953 in the central Brazilian city of Goiânia, the capital of Goiás, this composer, singer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist first took an interest in his father’s guitar at the tender age of twelve. This was closely followed by his second love, the drums, as Bororó found himself on the sticks with a local dance combo called The Mad. Much of his early professional life was spent deeply involved and inspired by the burgeoning music scene of Rio de Janeiro and the emerging Clubs Da Esquina movement, and his abilities on a plethora of stringed instruments, as well as his natural talent as a drummer, would later make him a popular figure among artists as diverse as superstar musician and producer Peter Gabriel and Brazilian samba queen Beth Carvalho, both of whom he worked with extensively during the late 1980s and early 1990s. One of his most significant moments came in 1979 though, when Bororó made his debut with the Orquestra Sinfônica De Goiânia, conducted by Maestro Braz Pompeu de Pina, and made plans to use members of the orchestra on his first four-song release that same year. The resulting EP was written by four collaborators -Carlos Ribeiro, Gustavo, Nasr Fayad Chaul and Lilian. Despite a lack of budget, and using Bororó’s connections with the owner of the legendary Araguaia Studio, the collective managed to record the EP on four tracks, using limited resources and a budget cobbled together from their work making commercial jingles in the very same studio. The EP’s opener is the sublime and evocative title track, A Tempo e a Gosto. Written by Fernando Perillo, it was one of the young musician’s first recordings and features him dueting vocally with Bororo who also provides acoustic guitar and bass, with Gringo on drums and Napa on keys.
