So when Mutti premiered his Percussivo Mundo Novo at the Lavagem in 2009, leading his little bloco from the roof of a car decked out with a powerful sound system, he was not only keeping with the spirit of the celebration. He was introducing a funky hybrid sound.
“It was such a great time, and people were so receptive to the music,’’ says Mutti, who makes his Boston debut with Percussivo Mundo Novo at Johnny D’s on Thursday. “The pieces are a fusion. We’re always thinking about some kind of ancestral rhythm, mixing the roots with modern influences. We’re looking to the past to figure out the best way to go to the future.’’
Mutti has been at the center of Salvador’s teeming music scene for two decades. Largely self-taught as a keyboardist and producer, he was a teenager when he started working professionally. He gained international stature with Daniela Mercury in the mid-1990s, just after she emerged from Salvador’s carnival to become a pop star by transforming axé and samba-reggae from carnival grooves into a national musical movement. In the last decade, he has toured and recorded with another Salvador icon, Carlinhos Brown, who spearheaded the hugely influential band Timbalada, which is still a Lavagem staple.
More recently, Mutti toured with the German hard-rock band the Scorpions, and collaborated with Sérgio Mendes on his 2010 album, “Bon Tempo’’ (Concord Records), an experience that left the venerable Brazilian popularizer impressed.
“Mika is a great arranger, pianist, sound designer and composer. I also worked with him on the soundtrack for ‘Rio,’ ’’ Mendes wrote in an e-mail, referring to the hit animated film released in January, where, Mendes wrote, Mutti displayed his “imagination and an uncanny ability to fit in any musical scenario.’’
