José Mauro, the overlooked Brazilian singer-songwriter who gained a cult following after disappearing remotely in the 1970s, has died after a brief illness. Far Out Recordings, the record label that reissued Mauro Obnoxius led to the fact that he is alive, confirmed the news. Mauro was 75 years old.
Born in Jacarepagua, Rio de Janeiro, Mauro studied composition with concert pianist Vilma Graça and guitar with Brazilian virtuosos Baden Powell, Roberto Menescal and Wanda Sai. His early songs caught the attention of producer Roberto Quartin, who introduced him to songwriter Ana Maria Bahia and went on to release Mauro’s music on his own label, Quartin.
That output consisted of just two albums, Obnoxius and: A Voyagem Das Horas:both were released in the 1970s. They flew under the radar and soon he did too. Although his music was not political, he was rumored to have been a victim of Brazil’s military junta, which killed hundreds of dissidents and exiled artists deemed a threat to the regime. Others, including some of his colleagues, believed that he had died in a motorcycle accident. His work was gradually rediscovered, thanks in part to tastemakers in North America and Europe, such as Madlib and Floating Points.
In 2016, Far Out revealed the circumstances of his alleged death in material accompanying his popular reissue; Obnoxius. But renewed attention produced a surprising discovery. Mauro lived out of the public eye in Rio de Janeiro, abandoning his career working in musical theater. Far Out tracked him down to promote the re-release A Voyagem Das Horas:although Mauro was unable to perform for a long time due to the onset of Parkinson’s disease. He told the label: “My body took me away from music, health became a temptation for me. If I had the strength to continue creating, I would… always focus on gaining a sense of beauty, wonder.”