Jota Quest

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Jota Quest is a pop rock band from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The band's original name was Johnny Quest, but due to some legal issues with Hanna-Barbera, they took their nickname J.Quest, and renamed themselves Jota Quest to stay further apart from disputes over the name. The band members are soul full singer Rogério Flausino (vocals), guitar man Marco Túlio (guitar), Márcio Buzelin (keyboards), brazilian bass hero "PJ - Paulo Roberto Diniz, Jr. (bass) and Mr. Congeniality Paulinho Fonseca (drums).

Jota Quest has stood apart from the musical traditions of Minas Gerais with his derivative heavy pop-funk, albeit it afforded them national success in pop-rock. The band's first record, J.Quest, drew unambashedly on disco sonorities. The bar band is shown in their many versions, the most successful one their rendition of "As Dores do Mundo" ("Pains of the World"), a huge hit by Bahian Soulman Hyldon in the '70s. It quickly entered the charts, followed by other singles, and the band went on tour all over Brazil. On this first tour, the band members would come onstage wearing "black power" wigs, never disguising their "influences" - " Another hit tooken from their first album was "Encontrar Alguém" ("To Meet Someone") a very disco influenced song with a killer bass groove.

The band's second release was De Volta ao Planeta ("Back to the Planet"), more conventionally pop-rock, spawning more hit singles. Especially their signature song "Fácil" ("Easy" - not a Commodores version.). The album's theme song was "De Volta Ao Planeta" (the "Planet", in this case, referring to Planet of the Apes) with monkey noises backgrounding its chorus. They become best-sellers in Brazil and by this time they were recognized as a great live band. This tour was marked for the first Brazilian Solar Energy supplied live show , a project between Greenpeace and the band members.

The band tried a new direction on its third record, an ecological oriented and experimental release called Oxigênio ("Oxygen"). It moved away from the dance floor, with increased production values, experimental songwriting and sponsored by the greatest Coca Cola's marketing campaign in Latin America. The album went Platinum, even though it was greatly bashed by critics.

In 2002 they returned to their original formula with killing bass guitars grooves, funk rock guitars riffs and beautiful vocal lines with Discotecagem Pop Variada ("Eclectic Pop Disco"), their fourth album, Jota Quest recaped the bar band feeling with great choruses and funk for the masses, towed by hits like "Na Moral" (In The Groove) and the ballad "Só Hoje" (Only Today). This album was quickly followed by MTV Ao Vivo, a CD/DVD capturing one of the band's powerful and energized performances in a free concert for 80.000 people at Praça do Papa, in their hometown city of Belo Horizonte, hitting #1 on the Hot100Brasil official album charts. JQ always be recognized for their powerful live shows and this live album captured the best of the group career selling 1.000.000 copies in Brazil, Portugal and Latin America. The live DVD sold 240.000 copies.

The band's fifth studio album, Até Onde Vai ("How Far It Goes"), was released in 2005. Another great "experimental funk" album. Nevertheless, it contains a hit single in their version of Brazilian singer Roberto Carlos, "Além do Horizonte" ("Beyond the Horizon"). Another hit from the album, currently featured in Brazilian FM radios with consistence, is "O Sol" (The Sun). By this time Singer Rogerio Flausino was invited to sing in English duo Layo and Buschwacka 's 2006 album.

At this moment the band members are mixing the new live DVD, recorded in Porto Alegre (Brazilian city- Rio Grande do Sul state capital). The dvd will be launched at the end of this year.