Brejo das Almas — José Arimatéa
2022
- Music production: Sylvio Fraga and Marcelo Galter
- Musical direction: Marcelo Galter
- Piano and organ: Marcelo Galter
new album
August 2026
Marcelo Galter investiga a beleza sem fim de Dorival Caymmi
Rocinante Records (2026)
“This is a record made by Bahians. We are not tourists interested in folklore. We are people born into this tradition who want to carry this music forward — which is also Caymmi’s music — along with everything it stands for.”Marcelo Galter
listen to the single:
Marcelo Galter: piano, vocals and handclaps
Ldson Galter: double bass, vocals and handclaps
Reinaldo Boaventura: percussion, vocals and handclaps
Luizinho do Jêje: percussion, vocals and handclaps
Mû Mbana: vocals (1A, 1B and 2B), serdô — Fula flute (4A and 1B) and handclaps
All arrangements by Marcelo Galter, except “Promessa”.
In this new work, Marcelo Galter deepens a creative method that runs through his whole career: transposing to the piano musical languages that were born on other instruments. Starting from the work of Dorival Caymmi, this research opens into a dialogue with the viola de machete of the Recôncavo, the berimbau and Afro-Bahian drums.
“I had to drink from these languages to develop my way of playing the piano. To me, the power of orality is the passing on of knowledge through the body, the voice and living together, not only through formal writing. It is the same spirit that led Caymmi to draw on his own experiences of old Bahia — samba de roda and the cries of street vendors — to develop his own way of composing, singing and playing the guitar.”Marcelo Galter
- Artistic direction and music production
- Marcelo Galter and Sylvio Fraga
- Musical direction and arrangements
- Marcelo Galter
- Recording
- Guido Pera
- Mixing
- Pedro Durães
- Mastering
- Zino Mikorey at Vivid Dreams
- Label
- Rocinante — Rio de Janeiro
biography
Marcelo
Galter
Composer, pianist, arranger and musical director, Marcelo Galter has developed a singular musical language through an ongoing investigation of the musical roots of Bahia and their endless possibilities for reinvention. Born in Salvador, he spent more than two decades in a close artistic partnership with conductor and composer Letieres Leite, contributing to one of the most influential movements in contemporary Brazilian music. He has collaborated with artists such as Hermeto Pascoal, Maria Bethânia, Omara Portuondo and Tiganá Santana.
Author of Bacia do Cobre (2021), released by Rocinante, Galter has also built a solid career as an arranger, producer and musical director. His work includes Brejo das Almas (José Arimatéa), Atlântico Negro (Ilessi), Mocofaia, Poemas para Trio (Bernardo Ramos) and Erika Ribeiro: Villa-Lobos. In 2026 he releases Marcelo Galter investiga a beleza sem fim de Dorival Caymmi on Rocinante, deepening his research into tradition, orality and invention in contemporary Brazilian music.
discography
as leader
Bacia do Cobre — 2021
Rocinante
Bacia do Cobre marks Marcelo Galter’s arrival as a composer and leader of his own project. The album weaves together rhythmic systems, composition and improvisation in a language that moves between ancestry and invention, laying down elements that would become central to his artistic research.
watch the documentary
listen to the album
selected
projects
watch the concert
Bacia do Cobre
Espaço Cultural BNDES (2024)
listen to the albums
Mocofaia
2024
- Compositions: Marcelo Galter, Sylvio Fraga and Luizinho do Jêje
- Artistic direction, music production and arrangements: Luizinho do Jêje, Marcelo Galter and Sylvio Fraga
- Vocals, keyboards and synth bass: Marcelo Galter
Atlântico Negro — Ilessi
2024
- Musical direction and arrangements: Marcelo Galter
- Music production: Marcelo Galter and Sylvio Fraga
- Pianos: Marcelo Galter
O Enigma Lexeu — Letieres Leite Quinteto
2019
- Acoustic piano, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Minimoog, Roland RS-202 and harmonium: Marcelo Galter
about Marcelo
“‘Bacia do Cobre’ is the fulfilment of a dream of mine: an absolutely original Afro-Brazilian piano.”Letieres Leite
“The piano leads discreetly, accompanied by the bass, through high, middle or low melodies, with a precision from both that is so good it almost hurts!”Egberto Gismonti
“By challenging the conventions of the piano trio and replacing the drum kit with percussion, Marcelo creates a sound that brings different musical worlds together. The result is a visceral experience, where the classical blends with the popular and the contemporary converses with the ancestral.”Teatro Castro Alves — Bacia do Cobre
“In my singing live the thousand pianos of Marcelo Galter.”Ilessi