Trio Mocotó

Instrumental trio lined-up in São Paulo by Nereu Gargalo (Nereu de São José, RJ, 1945), Fritz Escovão (Luís Carlos de Sousa, RJ, 1943) and Joãozinho Parayba (João Carlos Fagundes Gomes, SP, 1951). Fritz played the cuíca, Nereu played the tambourine and Joãozinho played the drums. Their career became successful when they accompanied Jorge Ben in 1969. That's when they managed to record a single with "Coqueiro Verde" (Roberto Carlos and Erasmo Carlos) and play on Jorge Ben's album, traveling to France with the singer. The trio's first album, "Muita Zorra" (Forma), came out in 1971 and featured songs written by Jorge Ben, Roberto & Erasmo, Ivan Lins and others. In Brazil, they backed up artists like Toquinho, Vinicius de Moraes and Marília Medalha. A year later, the trio recorded an LP on RGE and another one in 1975, both featuring their own material. Their music sounds like a mix of different styles and was eventually labeled samba-rock. Their old hits were retrieved in the 90s, and the LPs became cult objects. They resumed their career in 2000.