Laurindo Almeida

Laurindo José de Araújo Almeida Nóbrega Neto (2 September 1917 – 26 July 1995) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer in classical, jazz, and Latin music. He was one of the pioneers in the creation of bossa nova. Almeida was the first guitarist to receive Grammy Awards for both classical and jazz performances. His discography encompasses more than a hundred recordings over five decades.

Background Laurindo José de Araújo Almeida Nobrega Neto was born in the village of Prainha, Brazil near Santos in the state of São Paulo. 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 de France by Stéphane 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. 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"-

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. The recording was nominated for two Grammy Awards and won for Best Classical Engineering for Sherwood Hall III at the first Grammy Awards ceremony. In her recent memoir Simple Dreams, singer Linda Ronstadt discusses Duets With the Spanish Guitar and notes that her aunt, the renowned Spanish singer Luisa Espinel was a friend of vocalist Salli Terri: "Knowing I wanted to sing, Aunt Luisa had sent me a recording, Duets with the Spanish Guitar, which featured guitarist Laurindo Almeida dueting alternately with flautist Martin Ruderman and soprano Salli Terri. It became one of my most cherished recordings."

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 1980, Almeida joined forces with Charlie Byrd on a series of highly regarded recordings, including Latin Odyssey, Brazilian Soul and Tango.

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 Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight.'"

Death 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. He composed more than 1000 separate pieces, 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". (No. 9 on the Billboard Top LPs) Acapulco '22 (Tower, 1963) Broadway Solo Guitar (Capitol, 1964) Guitar from Ipanema (Capitol, 1964) New Broadway-Hollywood Hits (Capitol, 1965) Sueños (Capitol, 1965) A Man and a Woman (Capitol, 1967) The Look of Love and the Sounds of Laurindo Alemeida (Capitol, 1968) Classical Current (Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Records, 1969) Bach Ground Blues & Greens (Century City, 1970) The Art of Laurindo Alemeida (Orion, 1972) The Best of Everything (Daybreak, 1972) The Golden Hits of the Masters—Today! (Daybreak, 1973) Bach Is Beautiful (Orion, 1972) Latin Guitar (Dobre, 1976) Virtuoso Guitar (Crystal Clear, 1977) Concierto de Aranjuez (East Wind, 1978) Chamber Jazz (Concord, 1977) Prelude: Romantic Studies for the Guitar (Angel, 1979) New Directions (Crystal Clear, 1979) Clair de Lune (Angel, 1980) First Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra (Concord, 1980) Brazilian Soul with Charlie Byrd (Concord Picante, 1981) Selected Classical Works for Guitar and Flute with Bud Shank (Concord, 1982) Latin Odyssey with Charlie Byrd (Concord Jazz, 1983) 3 Guitars 3 with Sharon Isbin and Larry Coryell (ProArte, 1985) Tango with Charlie Byrd (Concord, 1985) Music of the Brazilian Masters with Charlie Byrd and Carlos Barbosa-Lima (Concord 1989) Outra Vez (Concord Picante, 1992)

With The L.A. 4 The L.A. Four Scores! (Concord Jazz, 1975) The L.A. 4 (Concord Jazz, 1976) Going Home (East Wind, 1977) Pavane pour une infante défunte (East Wind, 1977) Watch What Happens (Concord Jazz, 1978) Just Friends (Concord Jazz, 1978) Live at Montreux (Concord Jazz, 1979) Zaca (Concord Jazz, 1980) Montage (Concord Jazz, 1981) Executive Suite (Concord Jazz, 1983)

As sideman

With Stan Kenton Encores (Capitol, 1947) A Presentation of Progressive Jazz (Capitol, 1947) Stan Kenton's Milestones (Capitol, 1950) Innovations in Modern Music (Capitol, 1950) Stan Kenton Presents (Capitol, 1950) Stan Kenton Classics (Capitol, 1952) Popular Favorites by Stan Kenton (Capitol, 1953) The Kenton Era (Capitol, 1955) Lush Interlude (Capitol, 1958) Artistry in Voices and Brass (Capitol, 1963) The Innovations Orchestra (Capitol, 1997)

With Pete Rugolo New Sounds by Pete Rugolo (Harmony, 1957) Behind Brigitte Bardot (Warner Bros., 1960) The Original Music of Thriller (Time, 1961)

With Bud Shank Holiday in Brazil (World Pacific, 1959) – rec. 1958 Latin Contrasts (World Pacific, 1959) – rec. 1958

With others Harry Belafonte, To Wish You a Merry Christmas (RCA Victor, 1958) Harry Belafonte, Belafonte Sings the Blues (RCA Victor, 1959) Bobby Darin, Bobby Darin Sings The Shadow of Your Smile (Atlantic Records, 1966) Sammy Davis Jr., Sammy Davis Jr. Sings and Laurindo Almeida Plays (Reprise, 1966) Peggy Lee, Guitars a là Lee (Capitol, 1966) Herbie Mann, The Magic Flute of Herbie Mann (Verve, 1957) The Modern Jazz Quartet, Collaboration (Atlantic, 1964) Oliver Nelson, Skull Session (Flying Dutchman, 1975) Van Dyke Parks, Discover America (Warner Bros., 1972) Shorty Rogers, Bossa Nova (Reprise, 1962) Lalo Schifrin, Gone with the Wave (Colpix, 1964) Carly Simon, Another Passenger (Elektra, 1976) Frank Sinatra, Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners (Reprise, 1964) Frank Sinatra, My Kind of Broadway (Reprise, 1965) Stan Getz, Stan Getz with Guest Artist Laurindo Almeida (Verve, 1966) Gerald Wilson, The Golden Sword (Pacific Jazz, 1966)