Music producer Mario Caldato Jr. is in Paris, where he will play Marcelo D2’s concert at La Machine du Moulin Rouge on Friday (5). Discreet and unknown to the general public, this Brazilian-born Californian collaborated with big names in music, from Björk to Yoko Ono, including Seu Jorge, Marisa Monte and Sérgio Mendes. But it was thanks to his longstanding partnership with the American trio Beastie Boys that he gained worldwide fame and discovered his own country.
When searching for Caldato’s name on the internet, the first thing that comes up is his partnership with the Beastie Boys. He met with the hip-hop group in the 1980s and did the music production of some of the trio’s major works, helping to create the sound that marked a generation. The collaboration began with “Paul’s Boutique”, the group’s second album, and continued with “Check Your Head”, “Ill Communication” and “Hello Nasty”, New York’s top albums.
“It was a dream to work with these guys,” reports the producer. And the reciprocal seems to be true because, according to legend, confirmed by the Beasties in a biography published in 2018, the song “Sabotage”, one of the group’s main hits, was a tribute to the Brazilian.
The producer was born in São Paulo, but at the age of two moved with his family to the United States, where he began his musical career in the 1980s. Even if Portuguese was the language spoken at home, he never learned to read or write. In the language of his parents and the little contact he had with Brazilian music were the records of Sérgio Mendes, which was a hit in the United States. In addition to some sound relics carried by passing relatives.
Contact with Brazilian music only really came at age 30. “I only got to know my country when I went on tour with the Beasties,” says the producer, who began his late training at the record stores he encountered on his first stay in Rio de Janeiro. “Some friends told me to listen to Jorge Ben, Caetano, Gil …”, recalls Caldato. Since then, not only has he started collecting Brazilian albums, but has multiplied collaborations with artists from his home country. “It’s another temperature, another warmth, affection and rhythm,” he compares.
The first Brazilian he worked with was Marcelo D2, in a partnership that also became a friendship. Then came names like Nação Zumbi, Vanessa da Mata, Chico Cesar, Ana Carolina, among others. Currently the producer works again with Seu Jorge, preparing an album scheduled for 2020. According to Caldato, the public will know a new side of the singer. “It’s a more sophisticated orchestrated record. A beautiful work. ” The fans are waiting.