Marcos Resende & Index

In spite of his immense potential to become a musician, Marcos Resende travelled to Lisbon in the 60s to study medicine, though he continued to explore his musical ion on the side, forming a trio which ended up opening for Dexter Gordon at the Cascais Jazz Festival in 1971. From here he formed the electronic oriented prog-jazz group Status, who opened shows for the likes of Elton John, Phil Woods, Stan Getz, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, but in spite of their relative live success they have no known recordings. Now established as a highly regarded keyboardist, composer, and innovative electronic musician, Resende returned home to Brazil. Inspired and invigorated by US jazz and British progressive rock, Resende went all out acquiring a keyboard arsenal, which included the Prophet 5, Yamaha -708 and Mini Moog. Determined to integrate his newfound inspirations with Brazilian rhythms and jazz traditions, he formed a new quartet with Rubão Sabino (bass), Claudio Caribé (drums) and the late great Oberdan Magalhães, of Banda Black Rio and Cry Babies fame, and recorded their self-titled debut at Sonoviso Studios with the legendary sound engineer Toninho Barbosa.

Though he wasn’t short of offers to release the album, Resende felt record companies were de-valuing the time and effort he spent absorbing his influences while establishing a career in Europe, and perfecting his sound with his Brazilian bandmates, as well as the magnitude of the recording they achieved. The album would only be released in 2021 by Far Out, only a matter of weeks after Marcos' death (by stomach cancer, on 12th November 2020, at the age of 73). In 1978, Marcos Resede & Index (already with other musicians, with the exception of Magalhães) finally debuted on disc with the mythical album Festa Para Um Novo Rei - home to the classic jazz-funk classic 'Vidigal' and released in the now iconic Philips Popular Brazilian Contemporary series (MPBC), but then without much repercussion. In As time ed, Resende become one of the most revered session keyboardists in Brazil; as a result his career as a bandleader took a backseat..