Arnaldo Baptista

Arnaldo Baptista is a key figure in the development of Brazilian music. A classically trained pianist, he is thought to be the link between the tropicalista rock of the 1960s and '70s and the rebirth of Brazilian rock in the '80s. He founded the group Os Mutantes, a virtual institution in Brazilian cultural history who have transcended pop music and expanded their range of influence through the aesthetic habits and identity of several generations. Baptista was born in São Paulo in 1948, the son of concert pianist and composer Clarisse Leite Dias Baptista and journalist, poet, and opera singer César Dias Baptista. Following in his mother's footsteps, he was classically trained on the piano, and wrote his first composition on sheet music at the age of seven. He also studied double bass and acoustic guitar. Along with his brothers Sérgio Dias Baptista and Cláudio César Dias Baptista, and some friends, they discovered rock & roll. Arnaldo began to play bass in the group the Wooden Faces, a name that changed several times from O'seis to O Konjunto, and at last, in 1966, it went through its final mutation to Os Mutantes (The Mutants). It was under this name that they became the most important rock band in Brazil. The initial formation was a trio with Baptista (bass/voice), Rita Lee (voice/percussion/visual conception), and Baptista's brother Sérgio Dias (guitar/voice). Another brother, Cláudio César, was the sound engineer. After their third album, Baptista took over on keyboards and Arnolpho Lima "Liminha" Filho (a very successful producer in his own right) assumed the bass chair. Ronaldo "Dinho" Leme, already occasionally hired as a supplemental player, became the drummer. They went to Europe, playing at Cannes, France at the MIDEM, and in Lisbon, Portugal. Between 1970 and 1972, in addition to making Os Mutantes a full-time touring and recording group, Baptista also produced Lee's first two solo albums, Build Up and Hoje É o Primeiro Dia do Resto de Sua Vida. By the time the band issued the album A E O Z in 1972, Lee had departed Os Mutantes. Baptista followed the next year. He issued his debut solo album, Loki?, in 1974, which is universally considered a pop/rock masterpiece. During the next several years, Baptista founded the band Patrulha do Espaço (Space Patrol), and in 1977 had a son with actress Martha Mellinger. Between 1977 and 1982, he composed and performed some 60 songs that were spread over several albums and independently issued tapes, including the Space Patrol albums Elo Perdido and Faremos uma Noitada Excelente. In 1981, he recorded Singin' Alone, playing all the instruments. Issued in 1982 on the Baratos Afins label, the album is widely considered as important as Loki? He took the stage solo at TUCA Theater with the show Shining Alone, which was also recorded, but it wasn't released until 2014. With Space Patrol, Baptista performed only in São Paulo. His fans from the outside would only get to know about his underground phase much later. In 1982 he was hospitalized and attempted suicide. He explained, "I had done so much! Played in so many places! And I was there, lost in that hospital, wondering: 'I might be left here for the next ten years!' Then, fully aware and tired of talking to the doctors (and not being heard), I thought: 'I had enough of it! I want to be free!' Then I jumped from the hospital's window, knowing that I was playing the highest game one can play: life. Then a miracle happened: I woke up in bed with my girl." The "girl" he refers to is Lucinha Barbosa, his better half for the past three decades. Baptista didn't stop making music during this period. The material he recorded ended up on the solo album Disco-Voador in 1987. Also issued that year were a pair of Space Patrol compilations from a decade before -- Faremos uma Noitada Excelente (live, 1987) and Elo Perdido (1988). During this period, his work as a visual artist intensified. Painting and composing in his country house in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, he exhibited his work in small shows during the early '90s. He also played and sang at music festivals and theaters, and appeared with other artists, including Sean Lennon, at the Free Jazz Festival (2000) and contributed with his talent and sensitivity to the compilation Give Peace a Chance, a tribute to John Lennon in 2001. Baptista remained the consummate cultural outsider, indifferent to musical -- or music business -- trends. Working privately on his own project, he released Let It Bed in collaboration with John Ulhoa in 2004, one of Brazil's top producers and leader of the band Pato Fu. The album was among the most acclaimed of 2004-2005 by Brazilian critics. Mojo magazine shortlisted Let It Bed in its yearly Top Ten. Over the next two years, Baptista participated in a series of Os Mutantes reunion concerts in Europe, the U.S., and Brazil, playing for audiences of up to 80,000. After that, he returned to his solo career, composing, and painting. In 2008, his story took on a new twist: his novel Rebelde Entre os Rebeldes, written in the '80s, was published by Rocco. In addition, Canal Brasil launched a feature documentary film on him entitled Loki! Arnaldo Baptista. Directed by Paulo Henrique Fontenelle, it won 14 awards internationally. In 2010, Baptista was finally embraced by the art establishment. He participated in two major shows, SP Art Fair 10-11 and the opening of Baró/Emma Thomas Gallery in 2010. His first solo retrospective exhibition, Lentes Magnéticas, showcased 80 works from three decades. In 2011, he became an ambassador for ANDA, one of Brazil's most active NGOs campaigning for animal and environmental welfare. In 2011, Baptista returned to the stage at Sesc Belenzinho Theater, São Paulo City, with the concert Sarau o Benedito?, a solo show in which he sang and played grand piano. He continues to perform in an intimate way at renowned theaters and events. In 2013-2014, all of Baptista's solo recordings were released digitally. He also scored a live piano soundtrack for George Méliès' short film A Trip to the Moon, for the International Short Film Festival of Belo Horizonte (2013). Another two solo art exhibitions followed: Exorealismo in 2014, curated by Marcio Harum. In 2015, he took part in the collective exhibition Ateliê dos Músicos at Sesc-Vila Mariana, among other collective shows, and was invited by curator Rodrigo Moura for the Solo Project of the SP-Arte, the largest art fair in Latin America. He also lent his participation to "Projeto Solo em Arte e Música" at Epicentro Cultural, curated by Mariana Coggiola and Cassiano Reis. The same year, five of his solo albums were reissued by Canal 3 in a deluxe box set. His solo exhibition Transmigração, also curated by Harum, took place at Caixa Cultural São Paulo. Polysom re-released Loki?, specially mastered for vinyl from the original tapes by Ricardo Garcia. The package also included a (previously unpublished) lyric sheet and liner notes by journalist Jotabê Medeiros.
© Alvaro Neder /TiVo