One of Rio de Janeiro s most exciting singer-songwriters of the last fifteen years is now living in Los Angeles, where he stands on the verge of an overdue Americanbreakthrough. Before the move, Latin Grammy nominee Rogê (pronounced haw-zheh) was the prince of Lapa, the bustling downtown center of Rio s nightlife. Charismatic and scruffy, with a distinctively raspy yet boyish voice, Rogê—bornRoger José Cury—gained an avid following for his swinging samba-funk, tinged with Brazilian Soul. His acclaim rose when he cowrote the theme song for the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.
Rogê s extremely promising debut on the American scene—which included a 2020tour with world-famous Brazilian singer-actor Seu Jorge and a New York Timesprofile—was cut short by the pandemic, but Rogê is back with a vengeance. Thissummer he will tour six cities on a bill with the Budos Band, the famed Afro-funkgroup from Staten Island; in August he will play the Hollywood Bowl for two nightsas the opening act for the Gipsy Kings.
He has completed his first American-made album, Curyman, slated for release onFebruary 2, 2023. Lavishly produced by the Budos Band s Thomas Brenneck, a topsession guitarist and collaborator with the stars (Lady Gaga, Beyoncé & Jay-Z, AmyWinehouse), Curyman will launch Brennecks new label, Diamond West. The firstsingle, “Pra Vida” (To Life), will break on August 11, 2022. This joyous, celebratorysamba “is like a cry for redemption and resistance, of resilience,” says Rogê, “so thatwe do not give in to sadness, to laziness, to a lack of desire to move on with life. It isthe certainty that a new day will dawn.”
Rogê began his ascent at Carioca da Gema, Lapa s preeminent samba club, where hereigned for a decade. Rogê recorded a live DVD (Baile do Brenguelê) and six soloalbums. Another recording, Na Veia (In the Veins), teamed him with veneratedsambista Arlindo Cruz; it earned the singers a Latin Grammy nomination. But theviolence and corruption in Brazil so disturbed him that in 2019 he moved with hiswife and two sons to West Hollywood. The next year, he and Seu Jorge played threedates of a 23-city tour to launch their album Seu Jorge & Rogê: Night Dreamer Direct-to-Disc Sessions, recorded in the Netherlands. Then the pandemic hit.
Rogê stayed home, perfecting his guitar technique and writing songs. In August 2021,his new friend Mathieu Schreyer, a music supervisor for film and TV, introduced himto Thomas Brenneck, who invited him to make an album the traditional way: “guitarand voice together,” the singer says, “with everyone in the same room, like theseventies.” The band is mostly American—“to make my music more universal.”Strings were added in Rio by a master arranger of the last fifty years, Arthur Verocai.Curyman explores themes of nature, the Indian and African roots of Brazil, andendurance in times of strife. Its release will fall on the Festa de Iemanjá, an annualBrazilian holiday in honor of the goddess of the sea; like Rogê s album, it is anoccasion of cleansing and rebirth.
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