Unerring Light

Although Mocot#243;'s music had been wildly fashionable in its time, there has been a significant lag between its bold origination and its wider more universal acceptance. A quarter-century after the Jogral, radio stations in S#227;o Paulo rediscovered and started airing "N#227;o Adianta," a track from Mocot#243;'s 1975 LP, which had only been released in Italy, without the group's authorization. In addition, as European DJ's discovered and started sampling Mocot#243;'s music from old vinyl sources, samba-rock emerged as a cult craze on the European dance circuit. Moreover, Brazilian as well as foreign DJ's, who had been sampling the trio's early recordings, were yearning to obtain the rights to remix Trio Mocot#243; tunes for new dance compilations. Parahyba -- I love the record. I love "Mocot#243; Beat" because it's made for people who want a solid groove and who crave samples. I love Jorge's "Adelita." The arrangement was done by the trombone player in Jorge's band. What's most important for me on this CD, what makes me most proud, is the way it was recorded. When we started thinking about the project, I met with Mario Caldato. He's one of the biggest producers of electronic music in Los Angeles. He produced the Beastie Boys. Mario told me, "Oh, man, you have to make a CD that sounds "vintage." I said, "Okay, but what do you mean vintage?" He said, "The group goes into the studio and records live." I said, "We've always recorded that way. We go into the studio, and we just do it. All Mocot#243;'s records have a groove that feels live because it is. We've never recorded any other way!" I told Mario that I wouldn't want to use a lot of Pro Tools on our tunes with all that interfacing, MIDI sequencing, and all that sort of "virtual recording." I was concerned that we wouldn't capture Mocot#243;'s joy, our fountain of energy. Recording track by track, musician by musician, often sets up something very cold, and that's not what Trio Mocot#243; is about. We are happy and happening on stage as well as in the studio. It's a show in the studio. We've never recorded two and three minute tunes. We do eight minute and ten minute tunes. I told Mario, "Man, I love technology. I use it today in my solo projects, but with Mocot#243;, I'd rather record everyone together."