Clube Da Esquina - History of Clube Da Esquina

History of Clube Da Esquina

In 1963 Milton Nascimento moved from Três Pontas, in the midlands of the state of Minas Gerais, to the capital Belo Horizonte, looking for work. He settled at the Levy building, where the Borges Family, including Márcio Borges, already lived. Milton and Márcio started composing (Milton had already played in some bars of Belo Horizonte): Márcio wrote the lyrics, and Milton wrote the music. Ever since, Márcio has played an important role in the history of Clube de Esquina as a lyricist, mainly together with, at a later stage, Fernando Brant.

In 1972, the first LP was recorded for EMI, Clube da Esquina. It was a double LP and had a youth group, and it attracted attention because of its engaging compositions, its patchwork of sounds, and its poetic richness. The group wrote a part of one of the most important chapters in the history of Brazilian popular music. It drew the attention of musicians from Brazil and abroad with its artistic daring and innovative creativity.

At the time, critics lacked the ability to understand what was happening and made harsh comments about the work. But the album had soon won international recognition and prestige in Brazil. The album and its creators became the head of a network musicians around the world, making it a benchmark of style and aesthetics in contemporary music.

It was followed by another album in 1978 (Clube da Esquina 2), which contained tracks written by artists who were not part of the original group (such as Chico Buarque).