Airto Moreira....

Airto Moreira was born in 1941 in the small village of Itaiopolis - south Brasil, and was raised in Curitiba. Even before he could walk he would start shaking and banging on the floor every time the radio played a hot song. This worried his mother, but his grandmother recognized his potential and encouraged him to express himself. By the time he was six years old he had won many music contests by singing and playing percussion. The city gave him his own radio program every Saturday afternoon. At thirteen he became a professional musician, playing percussion, drums, and singing in local dance bands. He moved to Sao Paulo at the age of sixteen and performed regularly in nightclubs and television as a percussionist, drummer and singer.
In 1965 he met the singer Flora Purim in Rio de Janeiro. Flora moved to the USA in 1967 and Airto followed her shortly after. When in New York Airto began playing with musicians such as Reggie Workman, JJ Johnson, Cedar Walton and bassist Walter Booker. It was through Booker that Airto began playing with the greats - Cannonball Adderley, Lee Morgan, Paul Desmond and Joe Zawinul, to name a few. Zawignul recommended Airto to Miles Davis for a recording session in 1970 for the “Bitches Brew” album. Davis then invited Airto to join his group, which included such jazz icons as Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Chick Corea and later John McLaughlin and Keith Jarrett. He remained with Miles for two years, and appears on such releases as “Live/Evil”, “Live at the Fillmore”, “On the Corner”, “The Isle of Wight”, “Bitches Brew” and later releases including the “Fillmore Sessions”.

Following his stint with Miles Davis, Airto was invited to form the original Weather Report with Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Miroslav Vitous and Alphonse Mouzon with whom he recorded “The Weather Report”. Soon after, he joined Chick Corea’s original Return to Forever group with Flora Purim, Joe Farrell and Stanley Clarke and they recorded the albums, “Return to Forever” and “Light as a Feather”.

In 1974 Airto formed his first band in the U.S., “Fingers” with Flora Purim. Since then they have performed constantly all over the world and recorded their own album for major record companies in Europe and America. Airto remains one of popular music’s most in demand percussionists. His collection of instruments, along with his knack for playing the right sound at the right moment, has made him the first choice of many producers and bandleaders. His work with Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, George Duke and Paul Simon, Carlos Santana, Gil Evans, Gato Barbieri, Michael Brecker, The Crusaders, Chicago, and many others including contributions to movie sound tracks such as The Exorcist, Last Tango in Paris, King of the Gypsies and Apocalypse Now, represents only a small number of the musical contributions Airto has made over the last three decades.

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

He has been advancing the cause of world and percussion music as a member of the “Planet Drum” percussion ensemble, with Mickey Hart, drummer for “The Grateful Dead”, and master conga player Giovanni Hidalgo and tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, along with Flora Purim, Babatunde Olatunji, Sikiru Adepoju and Vikku Vinayakram. Planet Drum won a Grammy Award in 1991 for World Music. Airto also contributed to another Grammy Award winning ensemble, “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 native country of Brazil takes him back every year to visit old friends and relatives as well as to pay respects to his spiritual 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 a spiritual healer all of his life. His lifelong interest in spirituality led him to record The Other Side of This, an exploration into the healing powers of music and the spiritual world. Airto also composed and performed his “Brazilian Spiritual Mass” for a two hour special on German television, with the WDR Philharmonic Orchestra in Cologne, Germany. This rare performance was reproduced on Vinyl for the classical record label “Harmonia Mundi” and licensed as a video by WDR, broadcast around the world.

Airto performed as a guest star with the Boston Pops Philharmonic Orchestra on a special for the PBS TV, the Smashing Pumpkins “Unplugged” for MTV, the Japan based percussion group Kodo and Depeche Mode’s latest CD “Exciter”. In 2001 when Airto recorded with Kodo, he contributed with two of his compositions: “Maracatu” and “Berimbau Jam”. The song “Maracatu” was chosen to be one of the official songs for the 2002 World Cup in Asia to open the ceremonies for the event in Japan.

One of Airto’s recordings for the Melt2000 label, “Killer Bees”, features Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, Mark Egan and Hiram Bullock; it was one of the most critically acclaimed albums on the European market. His solo album entitled “Homeless”, on Melt2000 was released in the year 2000. It is a high-energy album with “tribal” rhythms that is shaking the dance floors around the world. Other releases on this label include the group “Fourth World” with Jose Neto and Flora Purim.

His song “Celebration Suite” was re-mixed by the DJ group “Bellini Brothers” entitled “Samba de Janeiro”. The track hit #1 in the dance music charts over 26 countries around Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Airto has worked together with and had his music re-mixed by Frederic Galliano, Giles Peterson, Endemic Void, Justice, Ashley Beedle, Circadian Rhythms, Jimpster, Amon Tobin, and Max Breenen, among others.

In September of 2002, Brazil’s President Fernando Henrique Cardoso named Airto Moreira and Flora Purim to the “Order of Rio Branco”, one of Brazil's highest honors. The Order of Rio Branco was created in 1963 to formally recognize Brazilian and foreign individuals who have significantly contributed to the promotion of Brazil's international relations. The order is named after Barão do Rio Branco, Brazil's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1902 to 1912, famous for his role in negotiating the national borders of Brazil and referred as the “Father of Brazil's Diplomacy".

For three years Airto was a professor at the Ethnomusicology department of UCLA, and broke new ground in musical concepts and creative energy.
Currently he divides his time between recording studios, workshops and clinics, creating new projects including DVD Surround Sound, as well as researching new materials for future releases, and live performances in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Airto’s latest album, “Life After That” was released on Narada Records on September 30th, 2003.
http://www.airto.com/airtooldsite/frames1/wildframeset.htm

Airto Moreira - TOUCHING YOU TOUCHING ME

Airto Moreira

Living in U.S.A. since 1967, Airto Moreira develops on works world music and is professor of Etnomusicologia in the UCLA. Educator in diverse countries also acts as producing and. Recognized for producers and teachers as the percussionist most popular of the world, he is undeniable its contribution for the development and maintenance of the high level of the call worldmusic. He enters the artists of world-wide reputation, with who it already presented itself and recorded, is Antonio Carlos Jobim, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, Carlos Santana, Gil Evans, Barbieri Cat, Paul Simon, Quincy Jones, among others.

Airto Moreira was born, in 1941, in interior Itaiópolis – of Santa Catarina –, and lived its first years in Curitiba. Before exactly of literally walking with its proper legs already each time batucava in the soil that heard in the radio a ritmada music. If this worried its mother, the same it did not happen with its grandmother who recognized its potential she encouraged and it if to express it musically. To the six years of age, already it received compliments for its way to sing and to touch percussion. After that, the sender of local radio gave a program to it that went to air all the afternoons of Saturday. The thirteen years professional musician became touching percussion, battery and singing in ball bands. To the sixteen years he changed himself for São Paulo, starting to regularly present in nocturnal houses and programs of television as percussionista, baterista and singer.

In 1965, in Rio De Janeiro, the singer knew Purim Flora. Flora was for the United States, in 1967, and, then later, it followed it to Airto. A time in New Iorque, started to touch with important musicians as Reggie Workman, JJ Johnson, Cedar Walton and the stock exchange operator Walter Booker. It was through Booker that started to touch with Cannonball Adderley, Lee Morgan, Paul Desmond and Joe Zawignul. In 1970, Zawignul indicated Airto for a session of writing with Miles Davis, for the album “ Bitches Brew ”. After this, Davis it invited it, together with Hermeto Pascoal, to join it its group that, at the time was composed for some icons of the jazz as Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, Jack De Johnette, Chick Corea and, later, John McLaughlin and Keith Jarrett. Airto integrated the group of Miles Davis per two years appearing in “ Live/Evil ”, “ Live at the Fillmore ”, “ On the Corner ”, “ The Isle of Wight ”, “ Bitches Brew ” e, later, in the presentations of Fillmore.

Airto was invited to integrate the original formation of the Weather Report with Wayne Shorter, Joe Zavignul, Miroslav Vitous and Alphonse Mouzon, having recorded with them the album “ The Weather Report ”. Immediately afterwards the original group Return was joined it you the Forever de Chick Corea with Flora Purim, Joe Farell and Stanley Clarke with which it recorded the albums: “ Return you the Forever ” and “ Light a Feather ”. In 1974 it formed, with Flora Purim, its first band in the United States: Fingers.

He was known in years 70 and 80, as one of the percussionistas most popular of the world. Its domain on the instruments, ally to its ability in taking off the certain sound at the accurate moment, made of it number one in the list of the producers and bandleaders. Its work with Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, George Duke and Paul Simon, Carlos Santana, Gil Evans, Barbieri Cat, Michael Brecker, The Crusaders, Chicago and many others, including the participation in sonorous tracks for the cinema, as in “ The Exorcist ”, “ Last Tango in Paris ”, “ King of the Gypsies ” and “ Apocalypse Now ”, only represents a small part of the contribution of Airto for music in last the three decades. The impact of its work took the Downbeat magazine to consider the category ‘ percussion ’ in the voting of its readers and critics, in which Airto was the absolute winner for more than twenty times, since 1973. In recent years, the percussionista number one for the Jazz was considered Teams, Modern Drummer, Drum Magazine, Jazzizz Magazine, Central Jazz Station Global ’ s Pool Jazz in the Internet, in a similar way that for some European, Latin American and Asian publications.

Airto comes promoting the cause of percussiva music in the whole world as member of “ Planet Drum Percussion Ensemble ”, together with Mickey Hart, baterista of “ The Grateful Dead ”, that it also includes the great specialist in conga Giovanni Hidalgo and the tablista virtuoso Zakir Hussein, in a similar way that Flora Purim, Babatunde Olatunji, Sikiru and Viku Vinakrian, with which they had received the Grammy in 1991, in the category ‘ World Music ’. The instrumentista still contributed for the Grammy received for the Dizzy Gillespie ’ s United Nations Orchestra in the category ‘ better album of jazz to the living creature ’. Also it composed and it touched its “ Brazilian Spiritual Mass ” in a special one of two hours for the German TV, with the WDR Philharmonic Orchestra in Colony. This rare performance was registered in vinyl for the Harmonia Mundi stamp and permitted in video distributed in the whole world. More recently, was invited musician of the Boston Pops Philharmonic special Orchestra in for PSB TV and also with the Smashing Pumpkins in “ Unplugged ” of MTV, with the Japanese group of Kodo percussion and in the last COMPACT DISC “ Exciter ” of the Depeche Mode group.

Its record “ Killer Bees ” for the Melt2000 stamp, that has as invited Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, Mark Egan and Hiram Bullock, was one of the albums more acclaimed by the critical one in the European market. Its alone record “ Homeless ”, launched in 2000, is considered an album of high energy with tribal rhythms and continues balancing the soil of the houses of dance in the whole world. Other launchings in this stamp include the group Fourth World with Jose Grandson and Purim Flora. Its song ‘ Celebration Suite ’ was reverse speed-mixada in the year passed for group DJ Bellini Brothers and received the heading ‘ Samba from January ’ This band remains in first place in the category “ dances music ” in 26 countries of the Europe, Asia and Latin America.

In 2000, one more time it was voted as percussionista number one by the readers of the Downbeat Magazine. Airto finishes to record an album with the Japanese group of Kodo percussion, in which two of its compositions had been enclosed: ‘ Maracatu ’ and ‘ Berimbau Jam ’. ‘ Maracatu ’ was chosen by being one of official musics of the pantry of the World of 2002 and served as subject of the ceremony of opening of the event in Japan. As professor in the Department of Etnomusicologia of the UCLA, it comes opening new horizontes in terms of musical concepts and creative energy. It divides its time enters the writings in studios, workshops and shows, creating new projects including DVD Surrond Sound, as well as searching new materials for future performances in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America.