Som Imaginário emerged from Brazil's Belo Horizonte in Minas Gerais state during the 1970s. Alongside songwriters Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges, they helped create the Clube da Esquina movement. The group was founded by composer/pianist Wagner Tiso and offered an almost boundaryless sound that combined jazz, classical, rock (progressive and psychedelic), MPB, and bossa nova. Following their appearance on Milton in 1970, the band issued an eponymous offering on Odeon. Som Imaginario II (aka A Nova Estrela) appeared in 1971. The following year, the group's individual members worked with Nascimento and Borges on the iconic double-length Clube da Esquina. The band's third and last studio album was 1973's almost unclassifiable Matança do Porco. After a 40-year break, Tiso reunited Som Imaginário for three shows, then they resumed concert activity. In 2023, London's Far Out Recordings issued the archival Banda da Capital: Live in Brasilia 1976.