Maurice Monthier and His Great Orchestra. Those who don't know, by its name, would think that it was an orchestra of French origin. But in fact it is a very Brazilian orchestra, conducted by the Brazilian conductor Carlos Monteiro de Souza.
He was born in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, in 1916 and died in the same city in 1975. Despite little information, it is known that he started his career in the 1930s, still as an academic and emerged as an arranger in the decade of 1950, in Rio de Janeiro.
He was one of the creators of the vocal and instrumental group “Os Quatro Diabos” (The Four Devils), with which he recorded three albums, in addition to performing on radio stations, such as Mayrink Veiga and in films, such as “Alô, Alô, Brasil”, by Wallace Downey.
He was a cousin of the composer Ronaldo Monteiro de Souza, studied at the Law Faculty in Rio de Janeiro and at the Conservatory of Music. He was the arranger for Odeon, Companhia Brasileira de Discos, later Phonogram and CBS.
In 1972, Odeon released seven albums under the pseudonym of "Maurice Monthier and Sua Grande Orquestra". Another prominent album was “Metais em Brasa Bossa Nova”, following the wave of American conductor Henry Jerome. Other albums were: “A Saudade é Mulher”, “Duas Notas”, “Em Outubro Vou Pagar”, “Férias de Julho”, “Não”, “Ouve Meu Amor”, “Prá Frente”, “Amada Amante” among many others .
