Marcos Resende & Index

Origin

Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, ES

Years active

1976–2020

Genres

jazz fusion, progressive rock, jazz, latin, funk

Instruments

keyboards, synthesizer, electric piano, piano, accordion, rhodes

Biography

Marcos Resende was a Brazilian keyboardist, composer, and electronic musician, born in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Espírito Santo, in 1947. A musical prodigy, he began playing the accordion at age two and the piano at six. Despite his early talent, Resende pursued a medical degree in Lisbon, Portugal, in the 1960s. However, his passion for music remained, leading him to form a trio that opened for Dexter Gordon at the Cascais Jazz Festival in 1971. He also led the electronic prog-jazz group Status, which performed with notable artists like Elton John and Stan Getz, though no recordings exist from that project.

Upon returning to Brazil in 1974, Resende embraced his musical ambitions, influenced by US jazz and British progressive rock. He acquired a sophisticated keyboard setup, including a Prophet 5, Yamaha CP-708, and Mini Moog, aiming to fuse these influences with Brazilian rhythms and jazz traditions. This led to the formation of Marcos Resende & Index, a quartet featuring Rubão Sabino on bass, Claudio Caribé on drums, and Oberdan Magalhães on saxophone and flute. They recorded their self-titled debut album in 1976 at Sonoviso Studios, engineered by Toninho Barbosa, renowned as the "Brazilian Rudy Van Gelder." Although Resende had hoped to release the album on CTI Records, the deal fell through, and the recordings were shelved.

Resende continued to work as a sideman with prominent Brazilian artists such as Gilberto Gil, Edu Lobo, Gal Costa, and Carlos Dafé, and also composed music for television and film. In 1978, he released another album, "Festa Para Um Novo Rei," which gained a cult following. The original 1976 tapes of his debut album were preserved by Resende and eventually presented to Far Out Recordings. After years of restoration, the self-titled debut was finally released in 2021, posthumously, as Marcos Resende passed away from stomach cancer on November 12, 2020, at the age of 73. His work is often compared to that of Azymuth and Herbie Hancock, and he is considered a significant figure in progressive Brazilian instrumental music.