BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Description: Guitarist, Band Leader, Brazilian
Known For: VIVA BOSSA NOVA – 1962 – With the Bossa Nova All Stars
Instruments: Guitar
Music Styles: Jazz, Classical, Latin
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Date Born: 2nd October 1917
Location Born: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Date Died: 26th July 1995
Location Died: Van Nuys, California, United States of America
Aged 77 years.
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BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Laurindo Almaido
A Brazilian classical Guitarist, Arranger and Composer.
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 “Jazz Samba.” 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. According to author Michael Sparke, Almeida and his fellow Kenton bandmember drummer Jack Costanzo “endowed the music of Progressive Jazz with a persuasive Latin flavor, and the music is enriched by their presence.” 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.
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 on the World Pacific label (originally entitled “The Laurindo Almeida Quartet featuring Bud Shank”). Widely regarded as “landmark” recordings, Almeida and Shank’s combination of Brazilian and jazz rhythms (which Almeida labeled “samba-jazz”- 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.
Other observers note that the beat, harmonic stamp, and economy of expression were different than the bossa nova, giving Almeida and Shank’s recording “…a different mood and sound…certainly valuable in its own right.”
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. In this recording, Almeida arranges standard classical and folk repertoire through the prism of several Latin musical forms, including the modenha, charo, maracatu and boi bumba.
The result, according to Hi-Fi and Music Review was “…a prize winner in my collection. Laurindo Almeida’s guitar playing captures the keen poignancy and rhythmic élan of Brazilian music with superb assurance and taste”. 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 (listed below). 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.
Film and television
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 (such as The High Chaparral and “The Gift,” an episode of The Twilight Zone). Almeida made a cameo appearance on a 1959 episode of Peter Gunn titled “Skin Deep”. His performing credits included major motions pictures such as Good-bye, My Lady (1956), Funny Girl (1968), and The Godfather (1972). 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 underscoring and performing for Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992). Some articles report Almeida won at least one Oscar award for film composition; however, while he was involved in films that were nominated, he did not receive an Oscar for his film work.
Later career
In the 1970s, Almeida reunited with Bud Shank, forming the LA Four with Ray Brown and Chuck Flores (later Shelly Manne and then Jeff Hamilton). From 1974-1982, the LA Four toured internationally and recorded a series of albums for Concord Jazz, including The Four Scores!, an acclaimed live recording from the 1974 Concord Jazz Festival. 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. In 1992, Concord Records issued Outra Vez, an October, 1991 live recording with bassist Bob Magnusson and drummer Jim Plank; JazzTimes wrote that Outra Vez was “…a testament to his enduring genius as a concert guitarist, composer and arranger”.
In discussing Outra Vez, John Storm Roberts noted “…there was nothing retro about its tour de force, a phenomenal duet of Almeida performing Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ while bassist Bob Magnusson played Thelonius Monk’s ‘Round Midnight.'”
Death
Almeida was teaching, recording and performing until the week before his death on July 26, 1995 at age 77 in Los Angeles, California. He died of Acute Leukemia.
Legacy
Laurindo Almeida’s archives are housed at the US Library of Congress. He composed more than 1000 separate compositions, including 200 popular songs. In 1952 Almeida formed his own publishing company, Brazilliance, which has been influential in the dissemination of Latin American music. As described by authors Chris McGowan and Ricardo Pessanha, Laurindo Almeida was “…an artist known for his harmonic mastery, subtle dynamics, rich embellishments and adept improvisatory skills in a variety of idioms”.
In 2004 Almeida’s guitar work from his version of The Lamp Is Low was sampled by the late Japanese DJ/Producer Nujabes for the song Aruarian Dance which features on the soundtrack to the Anime series Samurai Champloo.
Noted Album
Collaboration (with The Modern Jazz Quartet)
Brazilliance (vol. 1)
Brazilliance (vol. 2)
Happy Cha Cha Cha
Viva Bossa Nova!
Ole! Bossa Nova
Broadway Solo Guitar
Guitar From Ipanema
Stan Getz with Guest Artist Laurindo Almeida Polygram Int’l B0000046V9
Laurindo Almeida’s San Fernando Guitars: New Broadway-Hollywood Hits
A Man and a Woman
The Look of Love
Conversations With the Guitar Capitol SP8532
Reverie for Spanish Guitars Capitol P8571
Acapulco ’22
Duets with the Spanish Guitar Capitol P8406
The Spanish Guitars of Laurindo Almeida
For My True Love Capitol SP8461
Impressoes do Brasil Capitol P8381
Danzas! Capitol P8467
Contemporary Creations for Spanish Guitar Capitol P8447
The New World of the Guitar Capitol 8392
Guitar Music of Latin America Capitol P8321
The Guitar Worlds of Laurindo Almeida Capitol SP8546
Jazz From A to B Unique Jazz UNQ1049
Brazilian soul (duo with Charlie Byrd)1981-1983
Latin Odyssey (with Charlie Byrd)1981-1983
Bachground Blues & Greens (with Ray Brown) Century City 80102
Classical Current Warner Bros.-Seven Arts WS 1803
Discography
As leader
Brazilliance (vol. 1)
Brazilliance (vol. 2)
Happy Cha Cha Cha
Viva Bossa Nova!
Ole! Bossa Nova
Broadway Solo Guitar
Guitar From Ipanema
Stan Getz with Guest Artist Laurindo Almeida Polygram Int’l B0000046V9
Laurindo Almeida’s San Fernando Guitars: New Broadway-Hollywood Hits
A Man and a Woman
The Look of Love
Conversations With the Guitar Capitol SP8532 1960
Reverie for Spanish Guitars Capitol P8571
Acapulco ’22
Duets with Spanish Guitar (1958)
The Spanish Guitars of Laurindo Almeida Capitol P(SP) 8521
For My True Love Capitol SP8461 1959
The Intimate Bach, Duets with the Spanish Guitar Vol.2 Capitol SP-8582 (1962)
Impressoes do Brasil Capitol P-8381
Collaboration (Atlantic, 1964) – with the Modern Jazz Quartet
Sammy Davis, Jr. Sings and Laurindo Almeida Plays (Reprise, 1966) – with Sammy Davis, Jr.
Danzas! Capitol P8467
Contemporary Creations for Spanish Guitar Capitol P8447
The New World of the Guitar Capitol 8392
Guitar Music of Spain Capitol P-8295 1954
Guitar Music of Latin America Capitol P8321 1955
From the Romantic Era Capitol P-8341 1956
Vistas di Espana Capitol P-8367 1956
Impressoes do Brasil Capitol P-8381 1957
Contemporary Creations for the Spanish Guitar Capitol P(SP)-8447 1958
Danzas Capitol P(SP)8467 1959
Music for a Spanish Guitar Capitol P(SP)-8497 1959
The Guitar Worlds of Laurindo Almeida Capitol SP8546 1961
Latin Guitar Dobre Records DR1000
Jazz From A to B Unique Jazz UNQ1049
Brazilian soul (duo with Charlie Byrd)1981-1983
Latin Odyssey (with Charlie Byrd)1981-1983
Bachground Blues & Greens (with Ray Brown) Century City 80102
Classical Current Warner Bros.-Seven Arts WS 1803
Masters of the Guitar, Disk 7 Murray Hill S-4194
Music of the Brazilian Masters (with Charlie Byrd and Carlos Barbosa-Lima) Concord Picante CCD-4389 (1989)
Virtuoso Guitar Crystal Clear CCS 8001 (1977)
As sideman
With Lalo Schifrin
Gone with the Wave (Colpix, 1964)
Concert Film
Tanya Maria: The Beat of Brazil with Special Guest Laurindo Almeida
Laurindo Almeida – A Tribute to a Master
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