A Banda Tropicalista Do Duprat in Bloomington, MN

Rogerio Duprat
is most known as an arranger of Brazilian
tropicalia
music, but did also release music under his own name. This 1968 album will undoubtedly be of interest to collectors of '60s
and/or Brazilian
psychedelia
, if only because three of the 12 tracks are actually vocal numbers performed by
Os Mutantes
(though two of those are merely covers of
the Cowsills
'
"The Rain, the Park, and Other Things"
and
the Beatles
"Lady Madonna"
). Overall, it's a bit of an odd endeavor, falling somewhere between
easy listening
music and the kind of madcap experimentation more typical of his most celebrated clients. It's of a higher class than most
albums, from Brazil or otherwise, however. For even if the predominantly instrumental material is sometimes cheesy (and sometimes covers not-so-classic American and British hits of the era such as
"Summer Rain,"
"Honey,"
"Cinderella Rockafella"
), the arrangements are often infused with off-the-wall zany imagination and wit. Nowhere is this more apparent than the interpretation of
"Judy in Disguise,"
which has to be the most vibrant and playful cover of that classic 1968 hit ever waxed, complete with infectious jazzy
Latin
rhythms, birdcalls, and honking horns. The fusion of foreign
pop/rock
, sexy
soundtrack
music, and relatively indigenous Brazilian popular forms is apparent to some degree on many of the other cuts, though some of the orchestration is fatuous. Songs by
Caetano Veloso
Gilberto Gil
are also given the
Duprat
treatment here, the soppy strings in
Veloso
's
"Baby"
nicely counterpointed by a (deliberately?) out of tune strummed guitar. It's doubtful many listeners will totally like or totally hate this, such is its uneven mix of elements. But most lovers of
pop
that doesn't take itself too seriously will get some fun out of it. ~ Richie Unterberger