Singer-songwriter revered in Brazil for founding the Clube da Esquina collective and releasing two landmark albums of the 1970s
The year of 1972 was an extraordinary one for the young Brazilian singer, guitarist and songwriter Lô Borges. Along with his friend Milton Nascimento, he created one of the most celebrated albums in Brazilian music history, Clube da Esquina, featuring many of his compositions. In the same year he also released his first solo album, which gained similar recognition as a Brazilian classic. Borges, who has died aged 73, may not have achieved Nascimento’s international celebrity, but he played a key role in transforming his country’s music.
Clube da Esquina (Corner Club) had its genesis in a group of friends who met up to play and write songs on the corner of Divinópolis and Paraisópolis streets in Belo Horizonte, the state capital of Minas Gerais in the south east of Brazil.
Nascimento was the key figure, as he was 10 years older than Borges, and already developing his extraordinary vocal style, mixing bossa nova, jazz and other influences, while Borges was fascinated with the Beatles. Nascimento left to find success, first when the high-profile Brazilian singer Elis Regina recorded one of his songs, and later when he moved to the US to record. But he had not forgotten his Corner Club friend, and his 1970 album Milton included three collaborations with Borges: Clube da Esquina, Alunar and Para Lennon e McCartney. Borges had been planning to join the Brazilian army, but was subsequently persuaded to follow a very different career.
