Opa

In the 1970s the Uruguayan trio Opa injected fresh energy into Brazilian jazz circles, backed by a vocal champion in percussionist Airto Moreira, yet wider commercial acceptance remained out of reach. Keyboardist, pianist, and vocalist Hugo Fattoruso, born June 26, 1943, in Montevideo, Uruguay, assembled the band in 1969 and promptly enlisted his brother George Fattoruso on drums plus bassist Ringo Thielmann. After shifting the ensemble from South America to New York in 1970, their club appearances across Manhattan quickly attracted Moreira’s interest. The group then anchored Moreira’s rhythm section on his second CTI effort, Fingers, released in 1973, and Hugo later sat in on additional 1970s sessions for Moreira and his wife, singer Flora Purim. Even though Moreira produced Opa’s two albums, Golden Wings in 1976 and Magic Time in 1977, his prestige failed to lift their sales, so the trio disbanded in the early 1980s without ever completing a third record. Hugo soon settled in Brazil, where he collaborated with Djavan and Chico Buarque, before returning to Uruguay in 1989. George likewise went back to Uruguay, co-leading a band there with his wife, singer Mariana Ingold, while Thielemann remained in the United States and gradually stepped away from music altogether. Long out of print, the pair of albums resurfaced in stores when Milestone/Fantasy combined them on a single CD reissue in 1997.