Hermeto Pascoal

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Hermeto Pascoal

---

Img_size =
Img_capt = Photo by Tom Beetz
Landscape =yes
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name =
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1936|6|22|mf=y, Arapiraca, Alagoas, Brazil
Died =
Origin =
Instrument = Keyboards, button accordion, melodica, saxophone, others
Genre = Jazz
Occupation =
Years_active =
Label =
Associated_acts =
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =

Hermeto Pascoal (b. June 22, 1936) is a Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist born in Arapiraca, area of Alagoas, Brazil. [ [http://www.slipcue.com/music/brazil/pascoal.html Hermeto Pascoal Discography - Slipcue.com Brazilian Music Guide] ]

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. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:g9fyxqqgldse~T1 allmusic Biography] ]

Biography

Pascoal comes from a remote corner of northeast Brazil, an area that when he was born had no electricity. He learnt the accordion from his father and practised for hours in the shade as, being an albino, he was incapable of working in the fields with the rest of his family.

Hermeto's career began in 1964 with appearances on several Brazilian recordings with relatively small 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, Quarteto Novo released one album and launched the careers of Pascoal and Moreira. [ [http://www.nscottrobinson.com/airto.php N. Scott Robinson-World Music and Percussion, Frame Drums, Riq, Tambourines] ]

Pascoal would then go on to join the multi-faceted group Brazilian Octopus [ [http://www.allbrazilianmusic.com/en/Essentials/Essentials.asp?Status=MATERIA&Nu_Materia=1188 All Brazilian Music: The music from Brazil] ]

He initially came to 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). 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 on he has 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.

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. Perhaps due to his growing up in the countryside, he uses nature as a basis for his compositions, as in his "Música da Lagoa," where 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. The folk musics of rural Brazil are another important influence on his work.

He and his wife Aline Morena live in her hometown, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.

Discography

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 on CD as "The Legendary Improviser")
* "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)

As contributor

* Pernambuco Do Pandeiro E Seu Regional, "Batucando no Morro" (1959)
* Airto Moreira, "Natural Feelings" (1970) Buddah Records
* 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" (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 (Realcino Lima Filho), "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)
* Mike Marshall and Jovino Santos Neto, "The Music of Hermeto Pascoal" (2003)
* Jovino Santos Neto, "Roda Carioca" (2006)

References

External links

* [http://www.hermetopascoal.com.br/ The official site]
* [http://www.brazzil.com/musdec96.htm Interview and extensive information and discography]