Hermeto Pascoal (born June 22, 1936) is a Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist. He was born in Lagoa da Canoa, Alagoas,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Pascoal is a significant figure in the history of

Brazilian music The music of Brazil encompasses various regional musical styles influenced by European, American, African and Amerindian forms. Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as forró, repente, coco de roda, axé, sertanejo, ...

, mainly known for his abilities in orchestration and improvisation, as well as being a record producer and contributor to many Brazilian and international albums.

Biography

Early life and career

Pascoal comes from Northeastern Eastern Brazil, in an area that lacked electricity at the time he was born. He learned the accordion from his father and practiced for hours indoors, as, being

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

, he was incapable of working in the countryside with the rest of his family. 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 Elis Regina Carvalho Costa (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 2002), known professionally as Elis Regina (), was a Brazilian singer of MPB and jazz music. She is also the mother of the singers Maria Rita and Pedro Mariano. She became national ...

, Cesar Camargo Mariano) established widely influential new directions in post-

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovat ...

Brazilian jazz. In 1966, he played in the Sambrasa Trio, with

Airto Moreira Airto Guimorvan Moreira (born August 5, 1941) is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the B ...

and Humberto Clayber; they released only one album, ''

Em Som Maior ''Em som maior'' is the only album recorded by Sambrasa Trio, a Brazilian group formed by Hermeto Pascoal, Humberto Clayber and Airto Moreira. It was released on an LP in 1965 and presents a fusion of various musical rhythms, including samba and j ...

''. Then he joined Trio Novo (Airto Moreira, Heraldo do Monte, Theo de Barros) and in 1967 the group, renamed Quarteto Novo, released an album that launched the careers of Pascoal and Moreira. Pascoal would then go on to join the multi-faceted group Brazilian Octopus.

International fame

Pascoal initially caught the international public's attention with an appearance on

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

's 1971 album '' Live-Evil'', which featured him on three pieces, which he also composed. Davis allegedly called Pascoal "the most impressive musician in the world". Later collaborations involved fellow Brazilian musicians Airto Moreira and

Flora Purim Flora Purim (born March 6, 1942) is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Return to Forever with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke. She has recorded and performed with ...

. From the late 1970s onward, he has mostly led his own groups, playing at many prestigious venues, such as the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

in 1979. Other members of the group have included bassist Itibere Zwarg, pianist

Jovino Santos-Neto Jovino Santos Neto (born September 18, 1954) is a Seattle-based Brazilian-American jazz pianist, flutist, composer, arranger, educator and record producer. Career Jovino Santos Neto started playing piano at age 13 and by 16 was playing keyboard ...

and percussionists Nene, Pernambuco, and

Zabelê Zabelê is a municipality in the state of Paraíba in the Northeast Region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Paraíba This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Paraíba (PB), located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. ...

. Known as ''o Bruxo'' (the Wizard), Pascoal often makes music with unconventional objects such as teapots, children's toys, and animals, as well as keyboards, button accordions,

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usua ...

, saxophones, guitars, flutes, voices, various brass and folkloric instruments. 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. Between 1996 and 1997, Pascoal worked on a book project called ''Calendário do Som'', which contains a song for every day of the year, including February 29, so that everyone would have a song for their birthday. He was married to Ilza da Silva, to whom he dedicated many compositions, from 1954 until her death in 2000. They had six children, Jorge, Fábio, Flávia, Fátima, Fabiula, and Flávio, and many grandchildren. Hermeto was later married to Aline Morena from 2003 until 2016, while living in

Curitiba, Paraná Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in Brazil's South Region. The Curitiba Metropolitan area ...

, Brazil. He has since returned to the Jabour neighborhood in

Bangu, Rio de Janeiro Bangu is a neighborhood in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a middle-class neighborhood. It is located in the western area of the city being one of the most populated districts, with 244,518 inhabitants (according to the Brazilian ...

, where he spends much of his time composing, rehearsing and hosting musicians from all over the world. In 2019, his album ''Hermeto Pascoal e Sua Visão Original do Forró'' won the

Latin Grammy Award for Best Portuguese Language Roots Album The Latin Grammy Award for Best Portuguese Language Album is given every year since the 1st Latin Grammy Awards ceremony which took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. In 2009 the category was divided in Best Native Brazilian ...

Discography

As leader or member

* 1961: ''Conjunto Som 4'' (with Conjunto Som 4) * 1966: ''

'' (with Sambrasa Trio) * 1967: '' Quarteto Novo'' (with Quarteto Novo) * 1969: ''Brazilian Octopus'' (with Brazilian Octopus) * 1970: ''Hermeto Pascoal'' (solo debut, reissued on CD as ''Brazilian Adventure'')(featuring Googie Coppola) * 1973: ''A música livre de Hermeto Pascoal'' * 1977: ''

Slaves Mass ''Slaves Mass'' is a 1977 album by Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal. Recorded for Warner Bros. Records, the album featured some of the most beloved Brazilian musicians of the time. Track listing The bonus tracks ...

'' * 1977: ''Trindade'' * 1979: ''Zabumbê-bum-á'' * 1979: ''Ao vivo Montreux Jazz Festival'' * 1979: ''Nova história da Música Popular Brasileira'' (compilation) * 1980: ''Cérebro magnético'' * 1981: ''Planetário da Gávea'' * 1982: ''Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo'' (reissued by Westwind Germany on CD as ''The Legendary Improviser''. The reissue appears to be a copy from vinyl.) * 1984: ''Lagoa da Canoa, Município de Arapiraca'' * 1986: ''Brasil Universo'' * 1987: ''Só não toca quem não quer'' * 1988: ''Hermeto solo: por diferentes caminhos'' * 1992: ''Festa dos deuses'' * 1993: ''Instrumental no CCBB'' (with Renato Borghetti) * 1998: ''Música!: o melhor da música de Hermeto Pascoal'' (compilation) * 1999: ''Eu e eles'' * 2002: ''Mundo verde esperança'' * 2006: ''Chimarrão com rapadura'' (with Aline Morena) * 2010: ''Bodas de Latão'' (with Aline Morena) * 2013: ''Hermeto Pascoal: The Monash Sessions'' * 2017: ''No Mundo dos Sons'' * 2017: ''Viajando com o som'' (recorded in 1976) * 2017: ''Natureza Universal'' * 2018: ''Made of Music'' * 2018: ''E sua visão original do forró''

As contributor

* 1956: ''Ritmos Alucinantes'', by Clovis Pereira * 1959: ''Batucando no Morro'', by Pernambuco do Pandeiro e seu regional * 1970: ''Natural Feelings'', by

* 1970: ''

Electric Byrd ''Electric Byrd'' is a jazz fusion album by Donald Byrd released by the Blue Note label in 1970.Huey, S. Allmusic Review: ''Electric Byrd''accessed 07 June 2010 Reception The Allmusic review by Steve Huey awarded the album 4 stars and stated, ...

'', by

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop ...

* 1970: '' Sergio Mendes Presents Lobo'', by Edu Lobo * 1970: '' It Could Only Happen with You'', by

Duke Pearson Columbus Calvin "Duke" Pearson Jr. (August 17, 1932 – August 4, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer. ''Allmusic'' describes him as having a "big part in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s as a record pro ...

* 1970: '' Live-Evil'', by

* 1971: ''Cantiga de Longe'', by Edu Lobo * 1971: ''Seeds on the Ground'', by

* 1975: ''Di Melo'', by Di Melo * 1976: '' Imyra, Tayra, Ipy'', by

Taiguara Taiguara Chalar da Silva (9 October 1945 in Montevideo – 14 February 1996 in São Paulo), whose stage name was Taiguara, was a Brazilian singer and songwriter. Taiguara was one of the most censored Brazilian artists to date, having over 200 son ...

* 1976: '' Open Your Eyes You Can Fly'', by

* 1976 ''Goldenwings'', by Opa * 1977: ''Orós'', by Raimundo Fagner * 1978: ''Robertinho no passo'', by Robertinho de Recife * 1979: ''Sivuca'', by

Sivuca Severino Dias de Oliveira (May 26, 1930 – December 14, 2006), known professionally as Sivuca, was a Brazilian accordionist, guitarist and singer. In addition to his home state of Paraíba, Brazil, and cities Recife and Rio de Janeiro, he worked ...

* 1979: ''Live in Montreux'', by

* 1980: ''Stone Alliance'', by Márcio Montarroyos * 1983: ''Cordas vivas'', by Heraldo do Monte * 1984: ''Ponto do músicos'', by Nenê * 1986: ''Balãozinho'', by Eduardo Gudin * 1986: ''Cordas mágicas'', by Heraldo do Monte * 1986: ''Pindorama'', by Pau Brasil * 1987: ''Flávio Pantoja'', by Flavio Pantoja * 1987: ''Dharana'', by Dharana * 1996: ''Brasil Musical - Série Música Viva - Pau Brasil E Hermeto Pascoal, Brasil Musical - Série Música Viva'' (with Pau Brasil) * 1998: ''Maritmo'', by

Adriana Calcanhotto Adriana Calcanhotto (born October 3, 1965) is a Brazilian singer-songwriter. Her melancholic songs are often categorized in the MPB genre. She began her professional career in 1984 and released her first studio album in 1990. Career Born from ...

(on track "Canção por Acaso") * 2000: ''Oferenda'', by Aleuda * 2000: '' Nação Nordestina'', by

Zé Ramalho Zé Ramalho (born José Ramalho Neto on October 3, 1949 – Brejo do Cruz, Paraíba, Brazil) is a Brazilian composer and performer. Zé Ramalho has collaborated with various major Brazilian musicians, including Vanusa, Geraldo Azevedo and Al ...

(on track "Violando com Hermeto") * 2003: ''Serenata: The Music of Hermeto Pascoal'', by Mike Marshall and Jovino Santos Neto * 2006: ''Roda Carioca'', by Jovino Santos Neto

References

External links

The official site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pascoal, Hermeto People from Alagoas Samba musicians Brazilian jazz (genre) flautists Brazilian jazz (genre) saxophonists Latin jazz flautists Latin jazz pianists Latin jazz guitarists Latin jazz saxophonists People with albinism Miles Davis Brazilian jazz pianists Brazilian jazz composers Brazilian jazz guitarists Brazilian jazz keyboardists Brazilian multi-instrumentalists Melodica players 1936 births Living people Brazilian saxophonists Male saxophonists Male jazz composers 20th-century pianists 20th-century guitarists 20th-century saxophonists 21st-century pianists 21st-century guitarists 21st-century saxophonists 20th-century jazz composers 21st-century jazz composers Brazilian male composers Male pianists Quarteto Novo members Sambrasa Trio members Latin Grammy Award winners 20th-century flautists 21st-century flautists