Quarteto 1111 -

Quarteto 1111 was a Portuguese pop-psych band that released numerous shortplayers on Columbia/EMI during the late 1960s, followed by a 1970 self-titled album. Further singles preceded a switch to Decca, which issued the band’s 1975 symphonic album Onde, Quando, Como, Porquê Cantamos Pessoas Vivas. Between albums, keyboardist/vocalist José Cid launched a solo career.

Members: Miguel Artur da Silveira, José Cid (keyboards, Moog, 1967-75), António Moniz Pereira, Jorge Moniz Pereira (1967-68), Mário Rui Terra (1968-70), Tózé Brito (1970-?, 1987), Michel Pereira, Guilherme Inês (drums), Mike Seargent

Background

Quarteto 1111 formed in Estoril in 1967 from the beat-group Conjunto Mistério. Keyboardist-vocalist José Cid joined Miguel Artur da Silveira, António Moniz Pereira, and Jorge Moniz Pereira in a lineup first shaped by Shadows-style instrumental pop, then pushed quickly toward a more elaborate song form. The new name came from the telephone number of the house where the band rehearsed.

1967–69 Singles and EPs

The first major step came with the 1967 EP A Lenda de El-Rei D. Sebastião. Its title track put a Portuguese historical myth into a new rock setting and became the first Portuguese record aired on Em Órbita on Rádio Clube Português.

A1. “A Lenda de El-Rei D. Sebastião” [The Legend of King Sebastian]
A2. “Os Faunos” [The Fauns]
B1. “Fantasma” [Ghost]
B2. “Gente” [People]

Later that year the group followed with the EP Balada para D. Inês, then took that title to the 1968 RTP Song Festival, where it placed third.

A1. “Balada Par D. Inês” [Ballad for D. Inês]
A2. “Partindo-Se” [Breaking Apart]
B1. “Vale de Ilisão” [Valley of Ilisão]
B2. “Dragão” [Dragon]

The lineup shifted in 1968 when Mário Rui Terra replaced Jorge Moniz Pereira on bass. With that second phase in place, the band extended its run of short releases through the single “Meu Irmão,” the 1968 EP Dona Vitória, and the 1969 singles “Nas Terras do Fim do Mundo” and “Génese.”

A. “Meu Irmão” [My Brother]
B. “Ababilah”

A1. “Guarda Nocturno” [Night Watchman]
A2. “Dona Vitória” [Lady Vitória]
B1. “Perspectiva” [Perspective]
B2. “Tempo da Inocência” [Time of Innocence]

A. “Nas Terras do Fim do Mundo” [In the Lands at the End of the World]
B. “Bissaide” [B-Side]

A. “Génese” [Genesis]
B. “Os Monstros Sagrados” [The Sacred Monsters]

Those records kept José Cid at the center as chief writer, keyboardist, and lead singer, and they widened the group’s palette with keyboard-led textures that stood apart from the lighter Portuguese pop current of the period.

Quarteto 1111

Quarteto 1111 released their self-titled debut album in 1970 on Columbia (EMI).

Quarteto 1111 moves from bare acoustic passages to fuller studio-built arrangements, with the Portuguese vocal line guiding each shift. “João Nada” and “As Trovas do Vento Que Passa” stay close to voice and guitar, keeping the phrasing plain, steady, and exposed. “Pigmentação” adds firmer bass motion and a stronger backbeat, which gives the song more bodily weight, while “A Fuga dos Grilos” pushes harder through brisk rhythm, clipped accents, and a more restless surface.

“Estrada Para a Minha Aldeia” opens into a lighter, more decorated arrangement, where the tune sits on a brighter lift, and “Maria Negra” darkens the album through tape effects, thicker atmosphere, and a less stable sense of space. Across the record, the band balances direct singing with shifts in pulse, arrangement density, and studio texture, so the songs move easily from intimate statements to more charged passages.

A1. “Prólogo” (2:10)
A2. “João Nada” [João Nothing] (3:34)
A3. “Domingo em Bidonville” [Sunday in the Shantytown] (2:15)
A4. “Estrada Para A Minha Aldeia” [Road to My Village] (2:21)
A5. “A Fuga dos Grilos” [The Escape of the Crickets] (2:54)
A6. “As Trovas do Vento Que Passa” [The Ballads of the Passing Wind] (3:36)

B1. “Pigmentaçäo” [Pigmentation] (4:23)
B2. “Maria Negra” [Black Maria] (3:00)
B3. “Lenda de Nambuangongo” [Legend of Nambuangongo] (2:15)
B4. “Escravatura” [Slavery] (2:13)
B5. “Epílogo” (2:51)

Singer José Cid commands an arsenal of piano, organ, and harpsichord. He breaks out a flute amid the harmonic counterpoint of guitarist António Moniz Pereira, who plays lead, rhythm, and 12-string models. Pereira and bassist Mário Rui Terra provide background harmonies against the backbeat of drummer Miguel Artur da Silveira.

Quarteto 1111 recorded the album with Jorge Hipólito and co-engineer Mário Soares.

Due to the album’s political content, Quarteto 1111 faced intervention from the censorship committee soon after release.

1970–72 Singles

Later in 1970, Tózé Brito replaced Mário Rui Terra after his move from Pop Five Music Incorporated. Quarteto 1111 then pushed into an English-language phase and issued the singles “Todo o Mundo e Ninguém,” “Back to the Country,” “Ode to the Beatles,” and “Sabor a Povo.” The band also appeared at the 1971 Vilar de Mouros festival and brought newer material onto a larger stage.

A. “Todo o Mundo e Ninguém” [Everyone and No One]
B. “É Tempo de Pensar em Termos de Futuro” [It Is Time to Think in Terms of the Future]

A. “Back to the Country”
B. “Everybody Needs Love, Peace and Food”

A. “Ode to the Beatles”
B. “1111”

A. “Sabor a Povo” [Taste of the People]
B. “Uma Nova Maneira de Encarar o Mundo” [A New Way to Face the World]

In 1972, Quarteto 1111 took that English-language turn into recording sessions in England and launched the parallel project Green Windows, a lighter offshoot that ran beside the main band for a period. The group then backed Frei Hermano da Câmara on the 1973 devotional album Bruma Azul do Desejado.

Onde, quando, como, porquê cantamos pessoas vivas

Quarteto 1111 released their second album, Onde, quando, como, porquê cantamos pessoas vivas, in January 1975 on Decca. The title translates as Where, When, How, and Why We Sing About Living People.

Onde, quando unfolds as one long piece built around Mellotron, piano, acoustic guitar, bass, drums, and sudden guitar surges. The opening rises on thick string tones and firm drums, then drops into a quieter span where piano, softer vocals, and flute-colored keyboard lines thin the texture without draining the tension. From there the suite shifts between hushed acoustic passages and heavier sections where drums press harder, the guitar cuts through in longer, hotter lines, and the keyboard layers widen the whole frame.

Around the turn into the second half, the music hits its sharpest charge through forceful vocals, pounding rhythm, and a lead guitar passage that pushes the ensemble to full intensity. The later sections return to acoustic guitar, tender singing, and repeated keyboard themes, then build again through piano, drum accents, and swelling string textures until the final minutes reach a broad, emotional close.

A. “Onde, Quando… Parte 1” (16:43)
B. “Onde, Quando… Parte 2″ (13:10)

José Cid produced the album with an array of keyboards. He harmonizes with bassist Tózé Brito while drummer Guilherme Inês locks in the guitar trade-offs of António Moniz Pereira and Mike Sergeant.

Quarteto 1111 recorded Onde, quando with engineer Hugo Ribeiro, who also worked on Malpertuis, the 1976 bandleader debut of jazz flutist Rão Kyao.

1976–77 Singles

José Cid left Quarteto 1111 in 1975, but the band continued without him and issued the singles “P’ra Frente com a Música Portuguesa” and “O Que Custar.” The later lineup no longer included any founding member, though it still carried the name into a second RTP Song Festival appearance in 1977 with “O Que Custar.” The group dissolved soon after. Cid, Mike Sergeant, Tózé Brito, and Michel reunited in 1987 for the single “Memo” b/w “Os Rios Nasceram Nossos,” which closed the group’s discographic history.

A. “P’ra Frente com a Música Portuguesa” [Forward with Portuguese Music]
B. “Canção do Mar” [Song of the Sea]

A. “O Que Custar” [Whatever It Costs]

The group dissolved soon after. Cid, Mike Sergeant, Tózé Brito, and Michel reunited in 1987 for the single “Memo” b/w “Os Rios Nasceram Nossos,” which closed the group’s discographic history.

Discography: