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Airto Moreira (born August 5, 1941) is a
Brazilian Jazz percussionist and musician. He
currently resides in Los Angeles.
His song "Celebration Suite" was re-mixed by
the DJ group "Bellini Brothers" entitled
"Samba de Janeiro". The track hit #1 in the
dance music charts over 26 countries around
Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Airto Moreira was born in Itaiopolis, Brazil,
into a family of folk healers, and raised in
Curitiba and São Paulo. Showing an
extraordinary talent for music at a young
age, he became a professional musician at age
13, and his first landmark recording was
Quarteto Novo with Hermeto Pascoal in 1967.
Shortly after, he followed his wife Flora
Purim to the United States.
After moving to the USA, Airto began playing
regularly with jazz musicians in New York,
including the bassist Walter Booker. Through
Booker, Airto began playing with Joe Zawinul,
who in turn introduced him to Miles Davis. At
this time Miles was experimenting with
electronic instruments and rock and funk
rhythms, a form which would soon come to be
called Jazz fusion. Airto was to participate
in several of the most important projects of
this emerging musical form. Airto stayed with
Miles for about two years, touring and
participating in the creation of the seminal
fusion recording Bitches Brew[1]. Shortly
after leaving Miles, Airto joined other Miles
alumni Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter and
Miroslav Vitous in their group Weather
Report, playing percussion on their first
album. He left Weather Report (replaced by
Muruga Booker for their Sweetnighter album)
to join fellow Miles alumnus Chick Corea's
new band Return to Forever. He played drums
on Return to Forever's first two albums,
their Return to Forever and Light as a
Feather. These albums are regarded today as
classics of the fusion genre.
Airto was a contributor to many of Grateful
Dead percussionist Mickey Hart's world music
/ percussion albums in Rykodisc's The World
collection, including The Apocalypse Now
Sessions, Dafos, At the Edge, and Planet
Drum.
Airto has played with many of the greatest
names in Jazz including Cannonball Adderley,
Lee Morgan, Paul Desmond, Wayne Shorter, Dave
Holland, Jack DeJohnette, John McLaughlin,
Keith Jarrett, Al Di Meola, Zakir Hussain,
George Duke and Mickey Hart. He also has
played with symphonic orchestras and as a
solo percussionist, and during live
performances often includes a samba solo,
where he emulates the sound of an entire band
using just a single pandeiro. He frequently
introduces himself to the audience with a
lesson in pronouncing his name; "eye, ear,
toe".
In addition to jazz concerts and recordings,
he has composed and contributed music to film
and television (including scores for
Apocalypse Now and Last Tango in Paris),
played at the re-opening of the Library of
Alexandria, Egypt [2] (along with fellow
professor of ethnomusicology Halim
El-Dabh[3]), and taught at UCLA and the
California Brazil Camp.
Airto Moreira Brazilian Jazz percussionist
Celebration Suite Bellini Samba de Janeiro
dance hit jazz drums Percussion classic
brazil fusion
Tags : Airto Moreira Brazilian Jazz percussionist Celebration Suite Bellini Samba de Janeiro dance hit jazz drums Percussion |
