Clube da Esquina (, in English "Corner Club") was a Brazilian music artists collective, originating in the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

. It is also the name of a double album from 1972. Clube da Esquina mixes

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

, bossa nova and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

styles, with Brazilian folk music and

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

influences.

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

the Platters The Platters are an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The act ...

were also an important influence on Clube da Esquina. Together with Tropicália, Clube da Esquina is usually regarded as the Brazilian musical movement that achieved the greatest international resonance in the post- bossa nova period (beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s).

History of Clube da Esquina

In 1963 Milton Nascimento moved from

Três Pontas Três Pontas (, ''Three Tips'') is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in southern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. It's a city with about all streets of urban zone paved and services of water and sewage to all people. The municipality h ...

, in the midlands of the state of Minas Gerais, to the capital

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

, looking for work. He settled at the Levy Building, where he found his future collaborators, the Borges family, including Márcio Borges and Lô Borges. Milton and Márcio started composing (Milton had already played in some bars of Belo Horizonte): Márcio wrote the lyrics, and Milton wrote the music. Ever since, Márcio has played an important role in the history of Clube de Esquina as a lyricist, mainly together with, at a later stage, Fernando Brant. In 1972, the first LP was recorded for EMI, '' Clube da Esquina''. While it was released under Milton's and Lô's names and featured many compositions and contributions from them, it was a collaborative effort of many members of the collective. It was a double LP and had a youth group, and it attracted attention because of its engaging compositions, its patchwork of sounds, and its poetic richness. The group wrote a part of one of the most important chapters in the history of Brazilian popular music. It drew the attention of musicians from Brazil and abroad with its artistic daring and innovative creativity. At the time, critics lacked the ability to understand what was happening and made harsh comments about the work. But the album had soon won international recognition and prestige in Brazil. The album and its creators became the head of a network musicians around the world, making it a benchmark of style and aesthetics in contemporary music. It was followed by another album in 1978 (''Clube da Esquina 2''), which contained tracks written by artists who were not part of the original group (such as

Chico Buarque Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque (), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, econom ...

Clube da Esquina musicians and bands

* Milton Nascimento * 14 Bis * Toninho Horta *Tavinho Moura * Tavito * Lô Borges * Beto Guedes * Wagner Tiso * Fernando Brant (lyricist) *Ronaldo Bastos (lyricist) *Nelson Ângelo *Márcio Borges (lyricist) *Flávio Venturini *Chiquito Braga

References

Sources

* Chapter 4 of Charles A. Perrone, Masters of Contemporary Brazilian Song: MPB 1965-1985 ( U TX P, 1989) on Milton Nascimento and friends.

External links

Museu Clube da esquina Museu da Pessoa

''Clube da esquina'' lyric

Blog do Clube da Esquina

Clube da esquina virtual museum

História da MPB Clube da Esquina, 30 anos da revolução mineira

Beyond Tropicália: 10 Representative Songs from Brazil's Clube da Esquina
{{Authority control Brazilian styles of music Brazilian rock music World Pacific Records albums Culture in Minas Gerais Musical groups from Minas Gerais