Hermeto Pascoal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hermeto Pascoal | |
|---|---|
 Photo by Tom Beetz
|
|
| Background information | |
| Born | June 22, 1936 , Arapiraca, Alagoas, Brazil |
| Genre(s) | Jazz |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboards, button accordion, melodica, saxophone, others |
Hermeto Pascoal (born June 22, 1936) is a Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist born in Arapiraca, area of Alagoas, Brazil.[1]
Pascoal is a greatly beloved musical figure in the history of the music of Brazil, known for his abilities at orchestration and improvisation as well as a record producer and contributor to many other Brazilian and international albums.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life and career
Pascoal comes from a remote corner at the northeast region of Brazil, an area that lacked electricity by the time he was born. He learned the accordion from his father and practiced for hours indoors as, being albino, he was incapable of working in the fields with the rest of his family.[2]
Hermeto's career began in 1964 with appearances on several Brazilian recordings alongside relatively unknown groups. These now-classic albums and the musicians involved (Edu Lobo, Elis Regina, Cesar Camargo Mariano) established widely influential new directions in post-bossa Brazilian Jazz.
After joining Trio Novo (Airto Moreira, Heraldo do Monte, Theo de Barros) in 1966, the group, renamed Quarteto Novo, released one album and launched the careers of Pascoal and Moreira. [3]
Pascoal would then go on to join the multi-faceted group Brazilian Octopus [4]
[edit] Attention
He initially caught the international public's attention through an appearance on Miles Davis' 1971 album Live-Evil, which featured Pascoal on several pieces (which he also composed). [2]Davis has said that Pascoal was "the most impressive musician in the world". Later collaborations involved fellow Brazilian musicians Airto Moreira and Flora Purim. From the late 1970s onward he mostly led his own groups, playing at many prestigious venues, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1979. Other members of the group have included bassist Itibere Zwarg, pianist Jovino Santos-Neto and percussionists Nene (his colleague from Quarteto Novo in the 1960s), Pernambuco and Zabele.
Hermeto is a prolific composer, famous for his project Calendário do Som, in which he composed a song every day for a year so that everyone would have a song for his or her birthday.[2]
Known as o bruxo (the sorcerer), Hermeto often makes music with unconventional objects such as teapots, children's toys, and animals, as well as keyboards, button accordion, melodica, saxophone, guitar, flute, voice, various brass and folkloric instruments.[2] Perhaps due to him growing up in the countryside, he uses nature as a basis for his compositions, as in his Música da Lagoa, in which the musicians burble water and play flutes while immersed in a lagoon: a Brazilian television broadcast from 1999 showed him soloing at one point by singing into a cup with his mouth partially submerged in water. Folk Music from rural Brazil is another important influence in his work.[2]
He and his wife Aline Morena currently live in her hometown, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.[2]
[edit] Discography
[edit] As leader or member
- Conjunto Som 4 (1964) (with Conjunto Som 4)
- Sambrasa Trio Em Som Maior (1966) (with Sambrasa Trio-Airto Moreira and Humberto Clayber)
- Quarteto Novo (1967) (with Quarteto Novo-Airto Moreira, Theo de Barros, and Heraldo do Monte)
- Brazilian Octopus (1969) (with Brazilian Octopus)
- Hermeto Pascoal (1970, solo debut, reissued on CD as Brazilian Adventure)
- A Música Livre De Hermeto Pascoal (1973)
- Slaves Mass (1977)
- Zabumbê-Bum-Á (1979)
- Ao Vivo Montreux Jazz Festival (1979)
- Nova História da Música Popular Brasileira (1979) (compilation)
- Cérebro Magnético (1980)
- Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo (1982, reissued by Westwind Germany on CD as The Legendary Improviser. The reissue appears to be a copy from vinyl.)
- Lagoa Da Canoa, Município De Arapiraca (1984)
- Brasil Universo (1986)
- Só Não Toca Quem Não Quer (1987)
- Hermeto Solo - Por Diferentes Caminhos (1988)
- Festa Dos Deuses (1992)
- Instrumental No Ccbb - Renato Borghetti E Hermeto Pascoal (1993)
- Música! - O Melhor da Música de Hermeto Pascoal (1998) (Compilation)
- Eu E Eles (1999)
- Mundo Verde Esperança (2004)
- Chimarrão com Rapadura (2006) (With Aline Morena)
[edit] As contributor
- Clovis Pereira, Ritmos Alucinantes (1956)
- Pernambuco Do Pandeiro E Seu Regional, Batucando no Morro (1959)
- Airto Moreira, Natural Feelings (1970)
- Donald Byrd, Electric Byrd (1970)
- Duke Pearson, It Could Only Happen With You (1970)
- Miles Davis, Live-Evil (1970)
- Airto Moreira, Seeds On The Ground (1971)
- Di Melo, Di Melo (1975)
- Flora Purim, Open Your Eyes You Can Fly (1976)
- Raimundo Fagner, Orós (1977)
- Robertinho de Recife, Robertinho no Passo (1978)
- Sivuca, Sivuca (1979)
- Elis Regina, Live in Montreux (1979)
- Márcio Montarroyos, Stone Alliance (1980)
- Heraldo do Monte, Cordas Vivas (1983)
- Nenê, Ponto do Músicos (1984)
- Eduardo Gudin, Balãozinho (1986)
- Heraldo do Monte, Cordas Mágicas (1986)
- Pau Brasil, Pindorama (1986)
- Flavio Pantoja, Flávio Pantoja (1987)
- Dharana, Dharana (1987)
- Brasil Musical - Série Música Viva - Pau Brasil E Hermeto Pascoal (1996)
- Aleuda, Oferenda (2000)
- Zé Ramalho, Nação Nordestina on track "Violando com Hermeto" (2000)
- Mike Marshall and Jovino Santos Neto, The Music of Hermeto Pascoal (2003)
- Jovino Santos Neto, Roda Carioca (2006)
