Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Happy Birthday, Airto Moreira

Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira was born on August 5, 1941, in ItaiĆ³polis, Brazil. Moreira and his wife, singer Flora Purim, moved to the United States in 1967 and began playing with a number of jazz musicians, including Joe Zawinul and Miles Davis.

Moreira participated in several of Davis's jazz fusion projects, including the highly influential album Bitches Brew. Moreira and other musicians who had played with Miles — Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, and Miroslav Vitous — then formed Weather Report, and Moreira played percussion on their first album, Weather Report. Moreira then left Weather Report to join Chick Corea's new band Return to Forever, where he played drums on the group's first two albums, Return to Forever and Light as a Feather.

Moreira and Purim also recorded 500 Miles High/At Montreux, a marvelous live album that Len Lyons included in his list of the 101 best jazz albums. As Lyons notes, the album features their "raw, spontaneous, and loose style."

A nice example of Moreira and Purim's music is "Samba de Flora":


Robert
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