Laurindo Almeida (September 2, 1917 – July 26, 1995) was
a Brazilian virtuoso guitarist and composer who made many recordings of
enduring impact in classical, jazz and Latin genres. He is widely credited,
with fellow artist Bud Shank, for creating the fusion of Latin and jazz which
came to be known as the bossa nova. Almeida was the first artist to receive
Grammy Awards for both classical and jazz performances. His discography
encompasses more than a hundred recordings over five decades.
Laurindo Jose de Araujo Almeida Nobrega Neto was born in
the village of Prainha, Brazil near Santos in the state of São Paulo. Born into
a musical family, Almeida was a self-taught guitarist. During his teenage
years, Almeida moved to São Paulo, where he worked as a radio artist, staff
arranger and nightclub performer. At the age of 19, he worked his way to Europe
playing guitar in a cruise ship orchestra. In Paris, he attended a performance
at the Hot Club by Stephane Grappelli and famed guitarist Django Reinhardt, who
became a lifelong artistic inspiration.
Returning to Brazil, Almeida continued composing and
performing. He became known for playing both classical Spanish and popular
guitar. He moved to the United States in 1947; a trip financed when one of his
compositions, a song known as "Johnny Peddler" became a hit recorded
by the Andrews Sisters. In Los Angeles, Almeida immediately went to work in
film studio orchestras.
Almeida was first introduced to the jazz public as a
featured guitarist with the Stan Kenton band in the late 1940s during the
height of its success. Famed Kenton arranger Pete Rugolo
composed "Lament" specifically for Almeida's cool, quiet sound, and Almeida's own composition "Amazonia" was also featured by the Kenton orchestra. Almeida stayed with Kenton until 1952.
composed "Lament" specifically for Almeida's cool, quiet sound, and Almeida's own composition "Amazonia" was also featured by the Kenton orchestra. Almeida stayed with Kenton until 1952.
Almeida's recording career enjoyed auspicious early
success with the 1953 recordings now called Brazilliance No. 1 and No. 2 with
fellow Kenton alumnus Bud Shank, bassist Harry Babasin, and drummer Roy Harte.
Widely regarded as "landmark" recordings, Almeida and Shank's
combination of Brazilian and jazz rhythms presaged the fusion of Latin and
jazz, which is quite different in bossa nova, although jazz critic Leonard
Feather credited Almeida and Shank as the creators of bossa nova sound.
Almeida's classical solo recording career on Capitol
Records began in 1954 with The Guitar Music of Spain. Almeida made a series of
highly successful classical recordings produced by Robert E. Myers.Among
Almeida's notable classical recordings is an album widely considered to be the
first classical crossover album, the
1958 Grammy winner Duets with Spanish Guitar with mezzo soprano Salli Terri and flutist Martin Ruderman. The recording was nominated for two Grammy Awards and won for Best Classical Engineering for Sherwood Hall III at the first Grammy Awards ceremony.
1958 Grammy winner Duets with Spanish Guitar with mezzo soprano Salli Terri and flutist Martin Ruderman. The recording was nominated for two Grammy Awards and won for Best Classical Engineering for Sherwood Hall III at the first Grammy Awards ceremony.
Of Almeida's five career Grammys, four were awarded in
classical categories. His classical recording discography also includes the
debut recordings of two major guitar works, Heitor Villa-Lobos' Guitar Concerto
and Radamés Gnattali's Concerto de Copacabana.
In 1964, Almeida again expanded his recording repertoire
by joining forces with the Modern Jazz Quartet on Collaboration (Atlantic
Records), which combined classical with jazz, called "chamber jazz."
Almeida also toured with the MJQ, both in the 1960s and again in the 1990s.
In addition to his recording achievements, Almeida
continued his work with the film studios throughout his career, playing guitar,
lute, mandolin and other instruments for more than 800 motion picture and
television soundtracks. He composed the complete film scores for ten motion
pictures and portions for hundreds of others, including Charles and Ray Eames's
1957 film Day of the Dead. His final film work was in "The Cat in the
Hat" (2003) in which his whistling cover of "The Girl From
Ipanema" is briefly heard.
In the 1970s, Almeida reunited with Bud Shank, forming
The L.A. Four with Ray Brown and Chuck Flores. From 1974 to 1982, the L.A. Four
toured internationally and recorded a series of albums for Concord Jazz. In
1980, Almeida joined forces with Charlie Byrd on a series of highly regarded
recordings, including Latin Odyssey, Brazilian Soul and Tango. He also recorded
with Baden Powell, Stan Getz and Herbie Mann, among others. His guitar trio,
Guitarjam, with Larry Coryell and Sharon Isbin played Carnegie Hall in 1988. In
the 1990s, Almeida toured again with the Modern Jazz Quartet.
From 1992, Almeida was teaching, recording and performing until the week before his death of leukemia on July 26, 1995, at age 77 in Los Angeles, California.
From 1992, Almeida was teaching, recording and performing until the week before his death of leukemia on July 26, 1995, at age 77 in Los Angeles, California.
(Edited from Wikipedia)
1 comment:
For” Laurindo Almeida & Bud Shank - The Brazilliance of Laurindo Almeida and Bud Shank Volumes 1 & 2” go here:
https://www31.zippyshare.com/v/G4OEd8Ao/file.html
1. ATABAQUE
2. AMOR FLAMENCO
3. STAIRWAY TO THE STARS
4. ACERATE MARS
5. TERA SECA
6. SPEAK LOW
7. INQUIETACAO
8. BAA - TOO - KEE
9. CARINOSO
10. TACATA
11. HAZARDOUS
12. NONO
13. NOCTAMBULISM
14. BLUE BAIAO
15. SIMPATICO
16. RIO RHAPSODY
17. NOCTURNO
18. LITTLE GIRL BLUE
19. CHORO IN 'A'
20. MOOD ANTIGUA
21. THE COLOR OF HER HAIR
22. LONELY
23. I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TIME IT WAS
24. CARIOCA HILLS
Laurindo Almeida's palette of stylistic and emotional expression was wide ranging and these early Brazilliance albums with Bud Shank helped establish the bossa nova style in the States several years before the craze hit.
'Brazilliance' and 'Brazilliance Volume. 2' draw upon the distinctly unique sound of Brazilian music and jazz that these two great artists created together. Tracks such as 'Atabaque' and 'Inquietacao' clearly indicate the music is primarily Latin in concept but Bud's alto, light but intense blows a jazz breath back into the proceedings.
This musical hybrid combined these two genres on a more artful basis than was ever obtained before or since. A wonderful and heartfelt respect runs deep through this superb collection and the admiration these two artists had for each other really shines through on every track. (Jasmine notes)
A big thank you to Mijas @ ACM2 for original link
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