Jota Quest is a Brazilian

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band. The band was founded in 1993 in

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 ...

, Minas Gerais as ''J. Quest'', but due to trademark issues with

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

, they renamed themselves ''Jota Quest'' (''jota'' being the Portuguese name for the letter ''j''). The band members include: Rogério Flausino (vocals), Marco Túlio Lara (guitar), Márcio Buzelin (keyboards), PJ (bass) and Paulinho Fonseca (drums). ''Jota Quest'' initially stood apart from Minas Gerais' musical tradition by garnering national success with pop rock and

blue-eyed soul Blue-eyed soul (also called white soul) is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly black Motown and St ...

-tinged pop. Eventually the band exposed its Clube da Esquina influences, including collaborations with Minas Gerais exponents Paulinho Pedra Azul and

Milton Nascimento Milton Silva Campos do Nascimento (; born October 26, 1942), also known as Bituca, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Nascimento has recorded 32 studio albums and has won five Grammy Awards, including Best World Music ...

in Oxigenio as well as jams with 14 Bis and a collaboration with

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), often known as Roberto Carlos and sometimes ''RC3'', is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer. He has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the ...

over his hit single "

Alem do Horizonte Alem is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Maasdriel, and lies about 10 km north of 's-Hertogenbosch. It used to part of the province in North Brabant. In 1934, it became part of Gelderland. U ...

". ''Jota Quest'' sold over 4,000,000 copies in Brazil, Latin America and Portugal.

Biography

The group played their first show as J. Quest inspired by the cartoon

Jonny Quest ''Jonny Quest'' is a science fiction–adventure media franchise created by Doug Wildey for Hanna-Barbera. It follows the character Jonny Quest, a young boy who joins his scientist father on various extraordinary adventures. The franchise sta ...

, the idea of bassist PJ. At the time, the group played the bar circuit and schools of Belo Horizonte and gathered more than 2,000 people per show. With this, the band was gaining ground. Next the contract with Sony Music came, and then the first official CD was released in August 1996. The bar band's most successful song is their rendition of "As Dores do Mundo", a huge hit by Bahian soulman Hyldon in the '70s. It quickly entered the charts, followed by other singles, while the band toured Brazil. On this first tour, the band members came on stage wearing "black power" wigs. Another hit from their first album was "Encontrar Alguém", a very

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

. Even with the success, it took a while for them to get on television. On 11 January 1997, they were invited by the presenter

Xuxa Maria da Graça Xuxa Meneghel ( , ; born Maria da Graça Meneghel on 27 March 1963) is a Brazilian TV host, actress, singer, and businesswoman. Nicknamed "The Queen of Children", Xuxa built the largest Latin and South American children's ente ...

to perform at what was then called "Xuxa Hits", which belonged to

Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...

television. It was the first performance of Jota Quest on TV. The band's second release was ''De Volta ao Planeta'', more conventionally

, spawning more hit singles, especially the signature song "Fácil". The album's title song was "De Volta ao Planeta" with monkey noises backgrounding its chorus. The album became a Brazilian best-seller. This tour was marked for the first Brazilian Solar Energy supplied live show, a project with

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

. In 2009, the title track of the album was used in the hugely successful telenovela ''

Caras & Bocas ''Caras & Bocas'' (English: ''Watercolors of Love'') is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by TV Globo, which premiered on 13 April 2009 and ended on 8 January 2010. It was the second-most watched telenovela in Brazil. Cast Sound ...

'', resulting in the song receiving moderate airplay on Brazilian radio and a short stay on the national charts. A relative commercial failure, due to the band's previous sales figures, their association with an Internet provider as well as advertising for

Fanta Fanta () is an American-owned brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks created by Coca-Cola Deutschland under the leadership of German businessman Max Keith. There are over 200 flavors worldwide. Fanta originated in Germany as a Co ...

. The band tried a new direction on its third record, an ecological oriented and experimental release called ''Oxigênio''. It moved away from the dance floor, with increased production values, experimental songwriting and sponsored by the greatest

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

marketing campaign in Latin America. The Brazilian

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

winner singer

recorded with the band on this album the song "Destes Tantos Modos". Although the album went Platinum it is largely considered a hodgepodge. In 2001, they returned to their original formula with bass guitar grooves, funk rock guitar riffs and beautiful lyrics with Discotecagem Pop Variada, their fourth album. Jota Quest recapped the bar band feeling with hits like "Na Moral" and the ballad "Só Hoje". In 2002, Rogério Flausino was invited by Disney to sing the Brazilian version of the

Treasure Planet ''Treasure Planet'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction film, science fiction adventure film directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and written by Musker, Clements and Rob Edwards (screenwriter), Rob Edwards. Produced by Walt Disney ...

's soundtrack. The song is called Estou Aqui. With the success of the last record, the Jota Quest recorded on days 1 and 2 May 2003, the CD/DVD ''MTV ao Vivo: Jota Quest'' at the Praça do Papa, in Belo Horizonte, broadcast by

MTV Brasil MTV Brasil was a Brazilian over-the-air television network owned by Grupo Abril focused on the youth and entertainment. The network was launched on 20 October 1990, as the first specialty television network to broadcast over-the-air, becoming ...

. First live record of the group, gathered the biggest hits of the band and also had the special participation of

Arnaldo Antunes Arnaldo Antunes (, born Arnaldo Augusto Nora Antunes Filho, September 2, 1960) is a Brazilian singer, writer, and composer. He was a member of the rock band Titãs, which he co-founded in 1982 and left ten years later. After 1992, he embarked on ...

and Thaíde. In the same year, they were the only ones in Latin America to be invited to participate in the soundtrack of the movie Spider-Man 2, that also had a version for the cartoon. The lyrics were made by Rogério Flausino. Ten years after launching the first CD, the band was consolidated in the Brazilian pop rock's scenario. Altogether there were five CDs, thousands of shows and attendance records all over Brazil, presentations in the U.S. and recently in Europe, where they attended the opening of the ''Rock in Rio Lisboa'', sharing the stage with Carlos Santana and Roger Waters. After four years without releasing a CD with new material, the group got isolated in his studio in Belo Horizonte to record the album ''Até Onde Vai'', which arrived at the stores in October 2005, and since then, remains between the country's best-selling CDs. The album fused rock and funk elements and contained their

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of Brazilian singer

's "Além do Horizonte" which became a major hit. The album produced a further string of hit singles, all receiving heavy rotation on Brazilian radio stations, including: "O Sol", "Palavras de Um Futuro Bom" at the tail-end of 2006, and most recently "Já Foi" in the first half of 2007. This album was a 7th Annual Latin Grammy nominated. Lead singer Rogerio Flausino was also invited to sing in English on electronic dance act Layo and Bushwacka's 2006 album. In 2007, Rogério Flausino received the Multishow Award for being the best singer in Brazil. In the same year on 13 August, he became a father, having her first daughter, Nina. The "Até Onde Vai" toure were the longest one of Jota Quest. In 2008, the band released the album La Plata, recorded in the studio Minério de Ferro, three years after their last record. The CD quickly became successful on the radio with the songs "La Plata", which was on the soundtrack of TV Globo's soap opera "Cama de Gato", and the ballad "Vem Andar Comigo", very well played, and theme of the Soap Opera "Caras e Bocas", In late July, the third single "Seis e Trinta" was released on the radio and the music video came out in September. At the end of November 2009 the ballad "Único Olhar" was released, the seventh track of La Plata. In 2010 "Tudo Me Faz Lembar Você" was also released as the soundtrack of the film "Muita Calma Nessa Hora". In the second half of 2010, the Jota Quest launched to the Hispanic market their first Spanish album, entitled "Dias Mejores". The album was released first in Argentina. In early March 2011, the Jota Quest announced a tour commemorating their 15-year career. The "J15 - 15 Anos na Moral" is a kind of five-hour-long party, where the band will present a three-hour show with three new tracks. The project will be released on CD/DVD. The ''Quinze'' compilation was released in May and has two CDs and 30 tracks, among three hits and new songs. In early 2012, ''Quinze'' was awarded a Latin Grammy for Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album, the first Grammy award in the group's career.

Band members

*Rogério Flausino ''–'' lead vocals, acoustic guitar *Marco Túlio Lara ''–'' electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals *Marcio Buzelin ''–'' keyboards *PJ ''–'' bass *Paulinho Fonseca ''–'' drums

Discography

Studio albums

* (1996) ''Jota Quest'' * (1998) ''De Volta ao Planeta'' * (2000) ''Oxigênio'' * (2002) ''Discotecagem Pop Variada'' * (2005) ''Até Onde Vai'' * (2008) ''La Plata'' * (2013) ''Funky Funky Boom Boom'' * (2015) ''Pancadélico'' * (2024) ''De Volta ao Novo''

Live/video albums

* (2003) ''MTV ao Vivo: Jota Quest'' * (2006) ''Até Onde Vai – Ao Vivo em Porto Alegre'' * (2012) ''Multishow ao Vivo: Jota Quest – Folia & Caos'' * (2012) ''Ao Vivo no Rock in Rio'' * (2017) ''Acústico Jota Quest''

Compilation albums

* (2004) ''DVD Clipes'' * (2012) ''Quinze''

Bootleg recordings

* (2005) ''Rio de Janeiro, 28/01/2005''

Singles

References

*Live Eart

*Live Earth Live Vide

*Allmusi

*Greenpeace.or

*Rock in Rio Lisbo

*MSN Musi

*MTV Brazil 2006 Music Award

*7TH Annual Gramm

*Jota Quest in Rock in Rio Lisbo

*Premio Multishow

*Premio Multishow

*Isto E Gent

(Portuguese) ;Specific

External links

Jota Quest official website
(Portuguese) *Dicionario Cravo Musica Popular Brasileir

(Portuguese) {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups from Belo Horizonte Brazilian pop rock music groups Acid jazz ensembles Epic Records artists Brazilian funk rock musical groups Psychedelic soul music groups Sony BMG artists Brazilian dance music groups Latin Grammy Award winners 1993 establishments in Brazil Brazilian funk musical groups Culture in Minas Gerais