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.
The second cut, Histórias Da Mata, was co-written by Carlos Ribeiro and is a much more lively, waltz driven affair with a memorable vocal refrain, animated guitars and bright keys. Bororó once again provides acoustic guitar and bass, backed by Ricardo Leão on Fender Rhodes, Gringo on drums and the track also features a very special sax solo by Evaldo Robson.

On the second side of the EP, Goiás, Velho Goiás is a melancholic homage to Borobó’s homeland, with a slightly different line up of Goiás’ orchestra- conductor pioneer Braz Pompeu on an Essenfelder piano and Paulinho de Assis on bass.

Finally, the EP closer is something rather magical. The quasi-instrumental Tema De Lilian, was written with Bororó’s then-wife, architecture student Lilian Alves. It’s a daring and angular tribute to Goianian music of that era, combining the many flavours of Bororó’s music in one irresistible package with nods to jazz as well as to African polyrhythms. The Fender Rhodes is played by Paulinho de Assis, Gringo is on drums once again and the mystical wordless female voice belongs to Cristina Sawaya.

Although the EP was recorded in 1979, it would only be released two years later, held back initially by the lack of funds to press its 1,000 copies. Its eventual release was only made possible by a grant from the State of Goiás’ graphics and journalism department. There was no distribution to speak of, and copies were sold in person by Bororó at his shows (which helped increase his income from those gigs) and by his friends. Consequently the record has become something of a holy grail, and is here re-issued for the very first time since its initial release with original artwork courtesy of the artist Thomaz, who often drew Bororó playing his Craviola guitar at gigs.

Following on from the EP’s release, Bororó was compelled to move to Rio in the early 1980s by the legendary composer and artist Sérgio Ricardo, and went on to become one of Brazil’s most prolific and legendary session bassists.

Later in his career, he also held the post of musical director at an event to commemorate the anniversary of Rio de Janeiro, and in 1998 he received the Nhanhá Do Couto medal from the State Council of Culture for his work in his home state of Goiás, finally receiving an honour from the Secretary of Culture of the State of Goiás the following year.

Today, Bororó is an important part of the Academia Goianiense de Letras and continues to work with the remaining pioneers of the Brazilian Tropicalia movement, as well as the rising stars of his home country’s vibrant and always inspirational music scene.