marcos resende & index: marcos resende & index
Francisco Espregueira
Little is known about the work of Marcos Resende & Index, even for fans and collectors of Brazilian music, besides the classic LP Festa Para Um Novo Rei, released in the late 70s by the iconic MPBC. And it is from London that this story is, in part, unveiled - Far Out Recordings, which dedicates a large part of its efforts to reissuing pieces of gold from Brazilian music, presents the debut album of this project, never edited throughout these 35 years that have now passed. The self-titled Marcos Resende & Index, now reissued in vinyl, is an essential contribution to the progressive and instrumental music from Brazil.
Having started playing the accordion at the age of two and having learned the piano by himself when he was six, Marcos Resende was seen from an early age as a prodigious musician. Despite his immense potential, Resende came to Lisbon during the 60s to study medicine, nevertheless, exploring his passion and forming a trio that eventually opened up to the legendary Dexter Gordon at the Cascais Jazz Festival in 1971. The relative success, being part of a scene where jazz music was never valued on a large scale, was not enough to leave any recording of those times. Marcos Resende would return to Brazil after the 1974 Portuguese revolution, later establishing himself as a renowned composer, keyboardist and innovator.
The influences of his long stay in Portugal, especially the progressive rock that came from hubs in the UK and in the USA, began to be present in his works. It is at this time that he forms a new quartet with Rubão Sabino (bass), with Cláudio Caribé (drums) and with the great Oberdan Magalhães, known for being part of the Black Rio Band. Marcos Resende & Index mixed, as few projects did, the progressive rock textures from the 70s with the whole universe of sounds and rhythms that hail from Brazil. After six tracks, so well composed that they abstracted us from life for about 40 minutes, we found no reason not to include this work on the same 'shelf' where we keep João Donato, Marcos Valle or Azymuth.
After having shared stages with Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque, Edu Lobo and many other giants, his career as band leader was left behind and this is a wonderful opportunity to get to know it (or to remember it). Marcos Resende kept a treasure, perhaps because he did not feel at the time that he would be valued at the magnitude he deserved. That treasure is finally here for us that live in this fantastic era in which we have access to the infinite past and the infinite present. Marcos Resende & Index is a sonic pleasure - connecting stories that happened in Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro and London -, available vinyl, CD and digital formats through Far Out Recordings.