Ney Matogrosso is portrayed on the cover of the album 'Bandido' (1976) with the image of gypsy Marta Viana / Reproduction of the cover of the album 'Bandido' ? MEMORY – RECORDS FROM 1976 ? Instantly elevated to the rank of pop star when he was revealed in 1973 as the lead singer of the group Secos & Molhados, Ney Matogrosso lost some of his initial popularity when he left the trio in 1974. Even without starting from scratch, the singer had to seek his own path and find a musical identity to establish himself in a solo career that began in 1975 with the album “Água do Céu – Pássaro” and the show “Homem de Neanderthal”, works with a visceral atmosphere and dense Latinity. In that first moment, Ney seemed to embody an untamed, aloof animal, a bird already sure of its own flight. The musical universe of the singer's solo career began to be built there, grounded in 1976 by the following album and show, “Bandido”. Produced by Guilherme Araújo (1936 – 2007), under the musical direction of guitarist Rosinha de Valença (1941 – 2004), “Bandido” is an album that turns 50 in 2026 with the same seductive power as 1976. The title of the album was taken from the name of the pop mix of bolero and tango that became the album's radio hit, “Bandido corazón”, a gift from Rita Lee (1947 – 2023), in solidarity with her friend who followed a similar trajectory to Rita herself, who also had to look for her own group after the controversial departure of the group Os Mutantes at the end of 1972. The rapprochement with Ney led Rita to meet her future life and music partner Roberto de Carvalho, guitarist and keyboardist of the band Tercero Mundo, recruited by Ney in 1975 to accompany him at that decisive moment in his solo career. In addition to Roberto, who would have contributed to the pop polish of the arrangement of the original recording of “Bandido corazón”, the band Third Mundo was formed by Elber Bedaque (drums), Elias Mizrahi (piano, moog and mandolin), Jorge Carvalho (bass), Jorge Omar (guitar, viola and arrangements) and Marcelo Salazar (percussion) – fundamental musicians for the sound unity achieved by “Bandido”. On the cover of the LP, published by the Brazilian record label Continental (the same one that released Secos & Molhados' two albums), Ney Matogrosso was seen in a photo of Marta Viana with the gypsy look that helped shape the singer's image, enhanced with accessories such as a bandana, earrings and necklaces. In the repertoire of the album “Bandido”, Ney allowed himself to be free, giving voice to both a song by Luhli (1945 – 2018) that took the form of a torn blues, “Aqui e agora”, and an unreleased song by Odair José (popular singer who was at the height of his career at the time), Maxine’s partner in “Sing a song of love”, a composition never covered by the author, perhaps because it is not among the most inspired creations of Odair. Already showing his ability to fish for pearls, Ney rummaged through the Latin trunk and took out “Pa-ran-pan-pan”, a rumba by Cuban composer Sergio de Karlo (1911 – 2020) released in Cuba in 1939 and recorded for the first time in Brazil twenty years later, in 1959, after having become a Latin standard in the 1940s, anticipating the golden era of cha-chá-chá in the 1950. Even older is the album's other pearl, “Trepa no coqueiro” (Ary Kerner Veiga de Castro), a song from 1929 in which Ney imprinted the sensual malice that would become recurrent in the singer's solo discography. In this more breezy vein, the album “Bandido” also re-presents the samba “Pra não die de sadness” (João Silva and K-Boclinho, 1965) in a sarcastic recording highlighted by the blowing of the clarinet of Abel Ferreira (1915 – 1980), one of the guest musicians on the stellar technical record that also includes instrumentalists from the cellist Jaques Morelenbaun, credited only as Jacques. In a more poetic tone, the album soars through Andean airs in the song “A gaivota”, composed by Gilberto Gil for Ney while the Bahian artist was imprisoned for using marijuana. Gil himself plays the guitar in the recording of “A gaivota”, a song that the composer recorded in a single released in 1977. From another MPB giant, Chico Buarque, Ney received “Mulheres de Atenas”, a song in which Chico used fine irony to denounce the yoke of patriarchy that still exposes its claws in Athens and Brazil (the composer also recorded “Mulheres de Atenas” on the album “Meus caro amigos”, released that same year in 1976). Among the female trio that writes songs in the repertoire of the album “Bandido”, there is the musical director Rosinha de Valença – composer and exceptional guitarist of the ruralist song “Usina de Prata”, also recorded by Rosinha on the album “Cheiro de mato” (1976) – and there is Marlui Miranda, who collected “Airecillos”, a Spanish song from the 16th century, in addition to the aforementioned Luhli. “Airecillos” closes the album with Ney singing in Spanish, highlighting the Latinity that would be one of the determining traits of the musical identity outlined by the singer with this second solo album. Already fifty years old, but timeless due to its repertoire with no expiration date, “Bandido” is a well-rounded portrait of Ney Matogrosso’s strong personality as a performer. Therefore, at 50 years old, the album preserves the seductive power of 1976 intact.