Brunno

180g vinyl
opakowanie: tip on cover + printed inner sleeve + insert with lyrics

Bruno Leonardo Brugni Nunes.

Born into a traditional Bahian family, he was the son of deputy Paulo Silva Nunes and of Aída Brugni Nunes, landowners in Itabuna and Ilhéus, in the southern part of the state of Bahia.

The accumulation of victories in student festivals were a formative stage for Bruno, necessary steps on the way to achieving the musical authenticity he sought.

In 1979-81 he studied and worked in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, where his contributions on the soccer field were important in popularizing a sport that remains very popular there. During this same period, he wrote songs and worked by himself on the pre-production of his debut album “Amor Natural,” released in 1981 and dedicated to his father. This album featured Argentine saxophonist Hector Costita, a resident of Brazil at the time, as well as the guitar of Mário Campanha, composer of singer Vanusa’s 1973 hit “Manhãs De Setembro.” One night in 1981, musician/producer Geo Benjamin went to Bahia’s Yacht Club for the release party of the “Amor Natural” LP. The presence of some of his friends among the musicians in Bruno’s backing band was what brought him to the event. A short time after Geo’s arrival Bruno rushed in late carrying a copy of the LP under his arm, to perform for members of the region’s high society. Bruno and Geo had both heard of one another, and Geo was at the Yacht Club’s door when Bruno arrived, having a conversation with mutual friends of theirs, and that was when they were introduced. Both uttered the phrase “I’ve heard a lot about you!” simultaneously which broke the ice immediately and caused everybody present to start laughing and kicked off a long friendship and professional partnership between the two of them.

Bruno had already been living in Rio since mid-1982 when he produced and released a 1983 single on the Columbia label featuring the hit “Como Uma Brisa” (arranged by Roupa Nova’s Ricardo Feghali) and a re- recording of “Amor Natural” (arranged by Casa Das Máquinas guitar legend Pisca). Bruno was a constant presence in the Baixo Leblon area which was a popular entertainment-industry hangout in the 70s and 80s and he was a notably popular figure, friendly with everyone from restaurant workers to celebrities.

One day in 1983, while stopping at a red light in his car on Nossa Senhora De Copacabana Avenue, Bruno recognized an old friend from Salvador in the next car: Geo Benjamin. It was a surprise and a sign of things to come. Bruno had been looking for someone to help him get a band together to back him up and was excited by the fact that his song “Como A Brisa” had been included in the soundtrack of “Champagne,” a popular Rede Globo soap opera of that year. Geo, for his part, had come to Rio to shop his new work to record companies and was just about to return home but Bruno persuaded him to stick around. Bruno rented an apartment for the both of them on Copacabana’s Paula Freitas Street. In early 1984 the pair opened the soon-to-be-legendary Help club in Copacabana.

The same year, following Bruno’s signing to the Som Livre label, the pair moved to an apartment owned by Som Livre CEO João Araújo in the posh Alto Leblon area, where they wrote another single, “Era Escorregar Em Mim,” which was produced by Ezequiel Neves and released on Som Livre. They also wrote “Depois Da Praia” which would be held off from release for several years until 1986 when it was released on a single backed with “Pré Pós e São.”

Having a makeshift home studio set up in the Leblon flat allowed Geo to get his ideas down on tape instantly on the spot as well as offering recording and mixing services to artists seeking to record demos. Back in Bahia in 1988, Geo was starting pre-production on his “Rosas E Botões De Rádio” LP. Bruno had also returned to Salvador while Geo traveled to the US to acquire new equipment for his studio. The two then went back to Rio and recorded Bruno’s second album, a ten-track affair, at ex-RCA A&R man Guti Carvalho’s now-shuttered Multi Estúdio. The album was released on Guti’s SBK/ GPA label. Geo stayed in Rio at Guti’s behest and Bruno went back to Salvador to promote his new album. Five highly productive years had passed since that fortuitous encounter at a Rio traffic stop by this point.

Three years later, in 1991, the phone rang at the by-now well-established Geo & Cia: “Hey, Geo! Look, man, I’ve got some new songs here that I want to record, and I heard you’ve got a new label. It could be cool, I don’t want to get involved with a major label or anything, they don’t really get my music, how can we get something together? Maybe a partnership, who knows...” Geo’s reply: “Of course, come on over, buddy! Show me what you’ve got and let’s start recording!” Bruno knew exactly what he wanted to do and was very hands-on throughout the whole process. The sound, the basic arrangements, which instruments went where, all these decisions were made by the two of them.

Bruno was an aesthete whose body of work was not limited to his discography. He also left a vast legacy in film and television. He composed the score to Octávio Bezerra’s “Uma Avenida Chamada Brasil” which featured the song “Gang Civil,” another co-write with Geo Benjamin. His compositions and performances are also on the soundtrack to “O Trapalhão Na Arca De Noë” on which he sings “Quem Ouviu Falar Do Lobo Mau.” His song “Pai” is featured in “Plunct Plact Zuuum II.” The Bruno/Geo song “Todo Amor É Bom” is sung by Lilith over the opening credits of the mini-series “Sex Appeal.” Further credits: the documentaries “Halting The Fires” (an award winner in Freiburg, Germany), the BBC’s “The Life Liability” and the opening of SBT-TV’s show “Pesca e Companhia.”

One of Bruno’s proudest creations was Escuna Elétrica (a maritime version of Bahia’s Trios Elétricos), which Bruno brought to the Montreux Jazz Festival in the late 90s. This came about thanks to the legendary Claude Nobs, founder of the festival, who would frequently visit Bruno in Salvador. The 2008 album “Montreux Montreux” was another happy result, on which Bruno had the honor of the participation of Milton Nascimento and the beginning of a friendship and prolific partnership with pianist Delmar Brown (Sting, Jaco Pastorius, Pat Martino).

Late on a Sunday night on August 3rd, 2014, Bruno called his brother Paulo Roberto Nunes complaining of chest pains and he was rushed to the Cardiopulmonary Hospital of Salvador, Bahia but sadly died of a heart attack right in the hospital’s reception area.