Airto Guimorvan Moreira (born August 5, 1941) is a Brazilian jazz drummer, composer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer

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 ...

, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the Brazilian ensemble Quarteto Novo, he moved to the United States and worked in

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

with

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

Return to Forever Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Headhun ...

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer Alphonse Mouzon a ...

and

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

Biography

Airto Moreira was born in

Itaiópolis Itaiópolis is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina in the South region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Santa Catarina This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Santa Catarina (SC), located in the South Reg ...

, Brazil, into a family of folk healers, and raised in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

and

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. Showing an extraordinary talent for music at a young age, he became a professional musician at age 13, noticed first as a member of the

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

jazz pioneers

Sambalanço Trio Sambalanço Trio was a Brazilian samba-jazz group formed by Cesar Camargo Mariano (piano), Humberto Clayber (bass) and Airto Moreira (drums). The band started to play in 1964 and lasted for about two years. Their albums are considered some of the ...

and for his landmark recording with

Hermeto Pascoal Hermeto Pascoal (born June 22, 1936) is a Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist. He was born in Lagoa da Canoa, Alagoas, Brazil. Pascoal is best known in music of Brazil, Brazilian music for his orchestration and improvisation, as well as ...

in Quarteto Novo in 1967. Shortly after, he followed his wife

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. After moving to the US, Moreira studied with

Moacir Santos Moacir Santos (26 July 1926 – 6 August 2006) was a Brazilian composer, multi-instrumentalist and music educator. Musicians such as Baden Powell, Bola Sete and Wilson das Neves studied under him. As a composer, Santos worked with Nara Leão, ...

in Los Angeles. He then moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

where he began playing regularly with jazz musicians, including the bassist Walter Booker. Through Booker, Moreira began playing with

Joe Zawinul Josef Erich Zawinul ( '; 7 July 1932 – 11 September 2007) was an Austrian jazz and jazz fusion keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis and to bec ...

, who in turn introduced him to

. At this time Davis was experimenting with electronic instruments and rock and funk rhythms, a form which was soon called

. Moreira participated in several of the most important projects of this emerging musical form, and stayed with Davis for about two years. Shortly after leaving Davis, Moreira joined other Davis alumni Zawinul,

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary comp ...

and Miroslav Vitous in their group

, playing percussion on their first album (1971). He left Weather Report (replaced by Dom Um Romão and Muruga Booker for their '' Sweetnighter'' album) to join fellow Davis alumnus

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...

's new band

. He played drums on Return to Forever's first two albums: ''

'' and '' Light as a Feather'' in 1972. Moreira was a contributor to many of

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

percussionist

Mickey Hart Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...

's world music/percussion albums in

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label ...

's The World collection, including ''The Apocalypse Now Sessions'', '' Däfos'', ''

Supralingua ''Supralingua'' is an album by former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and his percussion ensemble Planet Drum. It was released on CD by Rykodisc, Rykodisc Records on August 4, 1998. Like the band's previous album, ''Planet Drum'', ''Supraling ...

'', and '' Planet Drum'', which won a World Music Grammy in 1991. He can be heard playing congas on

Eumir Deodato Eumir Deodato de Almeida (; born 22 June 1943) is a Brazilian pianist, composer, arranger and record producer, primarily in jazz but who has been known for his eclectic melding of genres, such as Pop music, pop, Rock music, rock, disco, rhythm a ...

's 1970s space-funk hit "

Also sprach Zarathustra , Op. 30 (, ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' or ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'') is a tone poem by German composer Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's 1883–1885 philosophical work of the same name.Prelude''. Moreira has also played with several jazz musicians, including

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered by the general public for the 1966 soul ...

Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s and a cornerstone of the Blue Note Records, Blue Note label, Morgan came to prominence in his la ...

Paul Desmond Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld; November 25, 1924 – May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer and proponent of cool jazz. He was a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and composed the group's biggest hit, " ...

Dave Holland Dave Holland or David Holland may refer to: *Dave Holland (bassist) David Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English double bassist, bass guitarist, cellist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has ...

Jack DeJohnette Jack DeJohnette (born August 9, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. Known for his extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians including Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, B ...

, John McLaughlin,

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also be ...

Al Di Meola Albert Laurence Di Meola (born July 22, 1954) is an American guitarist. Known for his work in jazz fusion and world music, his breakthrough came after joining Chick Corea's Return to Forever group in 1974. He launched, from 1976 afterwards, a s ...

, Zakir Hussain,

George Duke George Martin Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as ...

and

. In addition to jazz concerts and recordings, he has composed and contributed music to film and television, played at the re-opening of the

Library of Alexandria The Great Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. The library was part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion, which was dedicated to the Muses, ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

(along with fellow professor of ethnomusicology

Halim El-Dabh Halim Abdul Messieh El-Dabh (, ''Ḥalīm ʻAbd al-Masīḥ al-Ḍab''ʻ; 4 March 1921 – 2 September 2017) was an Egyptian-American composer, musician, ethnomusicologist, and educator, who had a career spanning six decades. He is particu ...

), and taught at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

and the California Brazil Camp. In 1996, Moreira and his wife

collaborated with P.M. Dawn on the song "Non-Fiction Burning" for the AIDS benefit album ''

Red Hot + Rio Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

'', produced by the

Red Hot Organization ''Red Hot Organization'' (RHO) is a non-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization with goals to promote diversity through equal access to healthcare through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors ...

. In 2022, it was announced via the Flora Purim & Airto Moreira

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page that Moreira was suffering severe health problems and that his wife Flora was now his full-time caregiver. Their daughter Niura established a

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the ...

page with the aim of raising funds to provide Moreira with funding for medical care.

Awards

* Moreira was voted the number one percussionist in "''

Down Beat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' Magazine's Critics Poll" for the years 1975 through 1982 and most recently in 1993. * In September 2002, Brazil's President

Fernando Henrique Cardoso Fernando Henrique Cardoso (; born 18 June 1931), also known by his initials FHC (), is a Brazilian sociologist, professor, and politician who served as the 34th president of Brazil from 1 January 1995 to 1 January 2003. He was the first Brazi ...

added Moreira and Purim to the "

Order of Rio Branco Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

", one of Brazil's highest honors.

Discography

As leader

* ''Natural Feelings'' (Buddah, 1970) * ''Seeds On the Ground'' (Buddah, 1971) * '' Free'' (CTI, 1972) * ''

Fingers A finger is a prominent digit on the forelimbs of most tetrapod vertebrate animals, especially those with prehensile extremities (i.e. hands) such as humans and other primates. Most tetrapods have five digits (pentadactyly), Chambers 1998 p. 60 ...

'' (CTI, 1973) * '' Virgin Land'' (Salvation, 1974) * ''In Concert'' with

(CTI, 1974) * ''Identity'' (Arista, 1975) * ''Promises of the Sun'' (Arista, 1976) * '' I'm Fine, How Are You?'' (Warner Bros., 1977) * ''Touching You...Touching Me'' (Warner Bros., 1979) * '' Däfos'' with

(Reference, 1983) * ''Misa Espiritual'' (Harmonia Mundi, 1983) * ''Latino/Aqui Se Puede'' (Sobocode, 1984) * ''Three-Way Mirror'' (Reference, 1985) * ''Humble People'' with

(Concord Jazz, 1985) * ''The Magicians'' with Flora Purim (Crossover, 1986) * ''The Colours of Life'' with Flora Purim (In+Out, 1988) * ''Samba de Flora'' (Montuno, 1989) * ''The Sun Is Out'' with Flora Purim (Crossover, 1987) * ''Struck by Lightning'' (Venture, 1989) * ''The Other Side of This'' (Rykodisc, 1992) * ''Killer Bees'' (B&W Music, 1993) * ''Homeless'' (M.E.L.T., 2000) * ''Revenge of the Killer Bees'' (M.E.L.T., 2000) * ''Life After That'' (Narada, 2003) * ''The Boston Three Party'' with

, Eddie Gomez (Stretch, 2007) * ''Aluê'' (Selo, 2017) * ''Eu canto assim'' (NoRPM, 2021) With

* ''

'' (Audio Fidelity, 1964) * '' Improviso Negro'' (Ubatuqui, 1965) * '' Reencontro com Sambalanço Trio'' (Som Maior, 1965) With Fourth World * ''Recorded Live At Ronnie Scott's Club'' (Ronnie Scotts Jazz House 1992) * '' Fourth World'' (B and W Music 1993) * ''Encounters of the Fourth World'' (B and W Music 1995) * ''Live in South Africa 1993'' (Bootleg.net 1996) * ''Last Journey'' (M.E.L.T. 2000) * ''Return Journey'' (Electro M.E.L.T. 2000)

Filmography

* 2006: ''Airto & Flora Purim: The Latin Jazz All-Stars''

Sources

References

External links

* – official site *
Airto Moreira
biography at Europe Jazz Network
Airto Moreira
interview at Clubbity
Airto Moreira
interview at

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

Airto Moreira Interview
at NAMM Oral History Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Moreira, Airto 1941 births Living people Brazilian emigrants to the United States People from Santa Catarina (state) Bongo players Brazilian jazz drummers Brazilian jazz percussionists Brazilian percussionists Brazilian session musicians Castanets players Conga players Djembe players Güiro players Jazz percussionists Latin jazz musicians Maracas players Marimbists Miles Davis Planet Drum members Quarteto Novo members Return to Forever members Sambalanço Trio members Sambrasa Trio members Snare drummers Tabla players Tambourine players Timbaleros American jazz vibraphonists Weather Report members Ilk Records artists Skye Records artists CTI Records artists