Airto Moreira

Airto Guimorvan Moreira (born August 5, 1941) is a Brazilian jazz drummer, composer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. He then moved to New York where he began playing regularly with jazz musicians, including the bassist Walter Booker. Through Booker, Moreira began playing with Joe Zawinul, who in turn introduced him to Miles Davis.

Shortly after leaving Davis, Moreira joined other Davis alumni Zawinul, Wayne Shorter and Miroslav Vitous in their group Weather Report, playing percussion on their first album (1971). (along with fellow professor of ethnomusicology Halim El-Dabh ), and taught at UCLA and the California Brazil Camp.

In 1996, Moreira and his wife Flora Purim collaborated with P.M. Dawn on the song "Non-Fiction Burning" for the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Rio, produced by the Red Hot Organization.

In 2022, it was announced via the Flora Purim & Airto Moreira Facebook page that Moreira was suffering severe health problems and that his wife Flora was now his full-time caregiver. Their daughter Niura established a GoFundMe page with the aim of raising funds to provide Moreira with funding for medical care.

Awards Moreira was voted the number one percussionist in "Down Beat Magazine's Critics Poll" for the years 1975 through 1982 and most recently in 1993. In September 2002, Brazil's President Fernando Henrique Cardoso added Moreira and Purim to the "Order of Rio Branco", one of Brazil's highest honors.

Discography As leader Natural Feelings (Buddah, 1970) Seeds On the Ground (Buddah, 1971) Free (CTI, 1972) Fingers (CTI, 1973) Virgin Land (Salvation, 1974) In Concert with Eumir Deodato (CTI, 1974) Identity (Arista, 1975) Promises of the Sun (Arista, 1976) I'm Fine, How Are You? (Warner Bros., 1977) Touching You... Touching Me (Warner Bros., 1979) Flora Purim & Airto Moreira Live at the Hollywood Bowl 1979 (1979) Däfos with Mickey Hart (Reference, 1983) Misa Espiritual (Harmonia Mundi, 1983) Latino/Aqui Se Puede (Sobocode, 1984) Three-Way Mirror (Reference, 1985) Humble People with Flora Purim (Concord Jazz, 1985) The Magicians with Flora Purim (Crossover, 1986) Airto Moreira & Flora Purim Live at Jazzfest Bremen 1988 (1988) The Colours of Life with Flora Purim (In+Out, 1988) Samba de Flora (Montuno, 1989) The Sun Is Out with Flora Purim (Crossover, 1987) Struck by Lightning (Venture, 1989) The Other Side of This (Rykodisc, 1992) Killer Bees (B&W Music, 1993) Homeless (M.E.L.T., 2000) Revenge of the Killer Bees (M.E.L.T., 2000) Life After That (Narada, 2003) The Boston Three Party with Chick Corea, Eddie Gomez (Stretch, 2007) Live in Berkeley - Airto Moreira & Flora Purim (Airflow, 2012) Aluê (Selo, 2017) Eu canto assim (NoRPM, 2021) Aqui, Oh! with Ricardo Bacalar & Flora Purim (2026)

With Sambalanço Trio Sambalanço Trio (Audio Fidelity, 1964) Improviso Negro (Ubatuqui, 1965) Reencontro com Sambalanço Trio (Som Maior, 1965)

With Fourth World Recorded Live At Ronnie Scott's Club (Ronnie Scotts Jazz House 1992) Fourth World (B and W Music 1993) Encounters of the Fourth World (B and W Music 1995) Live in South Africa 1993 (Bootleg.net 1996) Last Journey (M.E.L.T. 2000) Return Journey (Electro M.E.L.T. 2000)

Filmography 2006: Airto & Flora Purim: The Latin Jazz All-Stars