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Airto Moreira

Airto Moreira made an immediate impact on the Americanjazz scene by being the first Brazilian percussionist to beplaying a lot of different instruments at the same time. Hebrought them all together with an avant-garde, progressivesensibility, and revolutionized the role of percussion, both injazz and popular music. After him it was a wave, and he wasat the forefront with his work with Miles, Weather Report,and Return to Forever.

Airto Moreira was born in 1941 in the small village ofItaiopolis - south Brasil, and was raised in Curitiba. Evenbefore he could walk he would start shaking and banging onthe floor every time the radio played a hot song. By the timehe was six years old he had won many music contests bysinging and playing percussion. The city gave him his ownradio program every Saturday afternoon. At thirteen hebecame a professional musician, playing percussion,drums, and singing in local dance bands. He moved to SaoPaulo at the age of sixteen and performed regularly innightclubs and television as a percussionist, drummer andsinger.

In 1965 he met the singer Flora Purim in Rio de Janeiro.Flora moved to the USA in 1967 and Airto followed hershortly after. When in New York Airto began playing withmusicians such as Reggie Workman, JJ Johnson, CedarWalton and bassist Walter Booker. It was through Bookerthat Airto began playing with the greats - CannonballAdderley, Lee Morgan, Paul Desmond and Joe Zawinul whorecommended Airto to Miles Davis for a recording sessionin 1970 for the “Bitches Brew” sessions. He remained withMiles for two years, and appears on such releases as“Live/Evil,” “Live at the Fillmore,” “On the Corner,” “The Isleof Wight”, “Bitches Brew” and later releases including the“Fillmore Sessions”.

Following his stint with Miles, Airto was invited to form theoriginal Weather Report with Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul,Miroslav Vitous and Alphonse Mouzon with whom herecorded “The Weather Report.” Soon after, he joinedChick Corea’s original Return to Forever group with FloraPurim, Joe Farrell and Stanley Clarke and they recorded thealbums, “Return to Forever” and “Light as a Feather”

In 1974 Airto formed his first band in the U.S., “Fingers” withFlora Purim. Since then they have performed constantly allover the world and recorded their own album for majorrecord companies in Europe and America. Airto remainsone of popular music’s most in demand percussionists. Hiscollection of instruments, along with his knack for playing theright sound at the right moment, has made him the firstchoice of many producers and bandleaders.

His impact was so powerful that Downbeat magazine addedthe category of percussion to its readers and critic’s polls,which he has won over twenty times since 1973. In the pastfew years he was voted number one percussionist by JazzTimes, Modern Drummer, Drum Magazine, JazzizzMagazine, Jazz Central Station’s Global Jazz Poll on theInternet, as well as in many European, Latin American andAsian publications.

He has been advancing the cause of world and percussionmusic as a member of the “Planet Drum” percussionensemble, with Mickey Hart, drummer for “The GratefulDead”, and master conga player Giovanni Hidalgo and tablavirtuoso Zakir Hussain, along with Flora Purim, BabatundeOlatunji, Sikiru Adepoju and Vikku Vinayakram. “PlanetDrum” won a Grammy Award in 1991 for World Music. Airtoalso contributed to another Grammy Award winningensemble, “Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra,"which received the award for Best Live Jazz Album.

Airto’s love for the music and the people of his nativecountry of Brazil takes him back every year to visit oldfriends and relatives as well as to pay respects to hisspiritual guides and elders. Airto has been involved in“Spiritism” since an early age and used to go to the“sessions” with his father José Rosa Moreira, who was aspiritual healer all of his life. His lifelong interest in spiritualityled him to record “The Other Side of This,” an explorationinto the healing powers of music and the spiritual world. Airtoalso composed and performed his “Brazilian Spiritual Mass”for a two hour special on German television, with the WDRPhilharmonic Orchestra in Cologne, Germany. This rareperformance was reproduced on Vinyl for the classicalrecord label “Harmonia Mundi” and licensed as a video byWDR, broadcast around the world.

In 2001 when Airto recorded with Kodo, he contributed withtwo of his compositions: “Maracatu” and “Berimbau Jam”.The song “Maracatu” was chosen to be one of the officialsongs for the 2002 World Cup in Asia to open theceremonies for the event in Japan.

One of Airto’s recordings for the Melt2000 label, “KillerBees”, features Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, ChickCorea, Mark Egan and Hiram Bullock; it was one of themost critically acclaimed albums on the European market.His solo album entitled “Homeless,” on Melt2000 wasreleased in the year 2000. It is a high-energy album with“tribal” rhythms that is shaking the dance floors around theworld

Brazil’s President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in 2002named Airto Moreira and Flora Purim to the “Order of RioBranco”, one of Brazil's highest honors. The Order of RioBranco was created in 1963 to formally recognize Brazilianand foreign individuals who have significantly contributed tothe promotion of Brazil's international relations.

For three years Airto was a professor at theEthnomusicology department of UCLA, and broke newground in musical concepts and creative energy. Currentlyhe divides his time between recording studios, workshopsand clinics.

Airto’s album, “Life After That” was released on NaradaRecords in 2003.Airto's latest band, Fourth World featuringFlora Purim, Jose Neto, Gary Brown and Jovino Santos hasrecorded three albums, “Fourth World,” “Encounters of theFourth World” and “Last Journey.” When they are not in thestudio creating recordings or CD ROM projects for futurereleases, they perform throughout the US, Europe, Asia andLatin America.

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Jazz Musician of the Day: Airto Moreira

Source: Michael Ricci
August 5, 2023

All About Jazz is celebrating Airto Moreira's birthday today!

Airto Moreira made an immediate impact on the American jazz scene by being the first Brazilian percussionist to be playing a lot of different instruments at the same time. He brought them all together with an avant-garde, progressive sensibility, and revolutionized the role of percussion, both in jazz and popular music. After him it was a wave, and he was at the forefront with his work with Miles, Weather Report, and ...
read more

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Airto Moreira

Source: Michael Ricci
August 5, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Airto Moreira's birthday today!

Airto Moreira made an immediate impact on the American jazz scene by being the first Brazilian percussionist to be playing a lot of different instruments at the same time. He brought them all together with an avant-garde, progressive sensibility, and revolutionized the role of percussion, both in jazz and popular music. After him it was a wave, and he was at the forefront with his work with Miles, Weather Report, and ...
read more

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Airto Moreira

Source: Michael Ricci
August 5, 2021

All About Jazz is celebrating Airto Moreira's birthday today!

Airto Moreira made an immediate impact on the American jazz scene by being the first Brazilian percussionist to be playing a lot of different instruments at the same time. He brought them all together with an avant-garde, progressive sensibility, and revolutionized the role of percussion, both in jazz and popular music. After him it was a wave, and he was at the forefront with his work with Miles, Weather Report, and ...
read more

TV / Film

Resurrection! Legendary Percussionist Airto Moreira & The Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James
February 17, 2021

Two powerful forces in the world of jazz come together in Resurrection! Airto Moreira and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Airto Moreira is a world-renowned jazz drummer and percussionist from Brazil, who exhibited great talent at a young age. In his twenties he traveled to the U.S.A. in pursuit of Flora Purim, the woman with whom he had fallen in love, who had left Brazil to sing Bossa Nova with saxophonist Stan Getz. Over the years, Airto became a major ...
read more

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Airto Moreira

Source: Michael Ricci
August 5, 2020

All About Jazz is celebrating Airto Moreira's birthday today!

Airto Moreira made an immediate impact on the American jazz scene by being the first Brazilian percussionist to be playing a lot of different instruments at the same time. He brought them all together with an avant-garde, progressive sensibility, and revolutionized the role of percussion, both in jazz and popular music. After him it was a wave, and he was at the forefront with his work with Miles, Weather Report, and ...
read more

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Airto Moreira

Source: Michael Ricci
August 5, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Airto Moreira's birthday today!

Airto Moreira made an immediate impact on the American jazz scene by being the first Brazilian percussionist to be playing a lot of different instruments at the same time. He brought them all together with an avant-garde, progressive sensibility, and revolutionized the role of percussion, both in jazz and popular music. After him it was a wave, and he was at the forefront with his work with Miles, Weather Report, and ...
read more

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Airto Moreira

Source: Michael Ricci
August 5, 2018

All About Jazz is celebrating Airto Moreira's birthday today!

Airto Moreira made an immediate impact on the American jazz scene by being the first Brazilian percussionist to be playing a lot of different instruments at the same time. He brought them all together with an avant-garde, progressive sensibility, and revolutionized the role of percussion, both in jazz and popular music. After him it was a wave, and he was at the forefront with his work with Miles, Weather Report, and ...
read more

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Airto Moreira

Source: Michael Ricci
August 5, 2017

All About Jazz is celebrating Airto Moreira's birthday today!

Airto Moreira made an immediate impact on the American jazz scene by being the first Brazilian percussionist to be playing a lot of different instruments at the same time. He brought them all together with an avant-garde, progressive sensibility, and revolutionized the role of percussion, both in jazz and popular music. After him it was a wave, and he was at the forefront with his work with Miles, Weather Report, and ...
read more

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Airto Moreira

Source: Michael Ricci
August 5, 2016

All About Jazz is celebrating Airto Moreira's birthday today!

Airto Moreira made an immediate impact on the American jazz scene by being the first Brazilian percussionist to be playing a lot of different instruments at the same time. He brought them all together with an avant-garde, progressive sensibility, and revolutionized the role of percussion, both in jazz and popular music. After him it was a wave, and he was at the forefront with his work with Miles, Weather Report, and ...
read more

Education

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Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
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