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Brazilian-born
Eumir Deodato has racked up 16 platinum records to his credit as
artist, arranger or producer with combined sales of well over 25 million
records in the USA alone. His discography, including compilations and
all his work as arranger, producer and keyboardist, surpasses 450
albums. He has also had the honor of performing with the St. Louis
Symphony (which backed him on his superb Artistry album), the Cincinnati
Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestra di Musica Leggera
dell'Unione Musicisti di Roma. In addition, several artists over the
years have covered his songs, including George Benson, Lee Ritenour,
Sarah Vaughan and The Emotions to mention just a few.
And yet, in
spite of all of his varied triumphs, honors and distinctions over the
years, the multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist will probably forever
be associated with one song - his innovative rendition of Richard
Strauss' classical opus “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (or more commonly
known as the theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey). That single compelling
song, which first appeared on his 1973 debut album for CTI “Prelude,”
sold at least five million copies and earned Deodato his first Grammy
Award, instantly moved him to international stardom and setting a course
for his remarkable ongoing career in music. Thirty years later, that
same tune has found its way into the repertoire of the jam band Phish, a
testament to Deodato's enduring influence.
Born in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, from Italian and Portuguese origin, Eumir Deodato got
his start by playing the accordion at age 12. Shortly thereafter, he
started studying piano as well as orchestration, arranging and
conducting. Strictly self-taught, he immersed himself in theory books
while spending countless evenings sitting behind orchestras and
carefully observing how each part was played. His first break came at
age 17 when he arranged and conducted his first recording session for a
28-piece orchestra. It wasn't long before Deodato became one of the most
active and respected arrangers and pianists in Rio's busy music scene,
recording for such artists as Milton Nascimento, Marcos Valle, Elis
Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
In 1968, Deodato moved to New
York and began working with Luiz Bonfa, the legendary composer of Black
Orpheus, while also doing extensive studio work for Astrud Gilberto,
Walter Wanderley, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Marcos Valle and many other
Brazilian artists who were living in the Big Apple at the time. When
writing the arrangements for Astrud Gilberto's “Beach Samba,” he became
acquainted with producer Creed Taylor, who hired him to arrange for
other CTI artists like Wes Montgomery, Stanley Turrentine, George
Benson, Paul Desmond and Tom Jobim. His reputation in the fields of pop
and black music was strengthened by his arrangement work for Frank
Sinatra (Sinatra & Co.), Roberta Flack (Killing Me Softly, Chapter
Two, Quiet Fire) and Aretha Franklin (Let Me In Your Life).
Following
a performance at the Hollywood Bowl with the CTI All-Stars Band in
1972, Deodato started recording his record. His debut appearance as a
leader, billed as 2001 Space Concert, was held at the Madison Square
Garden in New York City in 1973.
After seven years of world-wide
touring (including Australia, Japan, Canada, South America, Europe) and
eight coast-to-coast tours of the States, Deodato decided to concentrate
on studio work once again. Besides highly successful solo albums for
the CTI, MCA, Warner And Atlantic labels, his work as a
producer/arranger earned him several more laurels. One of his first
productions was Kool & The Gang's #1 pop single Celebration. He
followed that success with production or arranging work for Earth, Wind
& Fire, Michael Franks, Gwen Guthrie, Chuck Mangione, Breakfast
Club, The Dazz Band, One Way, Con-Funk-Shun, Kleeer, Pretty Poison,
Kevin Rowland (Dexy's Midnight Runners), White Lion and Brenda K. Starr,
for whom he produced the pop hit I Still Believe in 1987. Deodato also
had three other multi-platinum albums for Kool & The Gang's Ladies'
Night, Something Special and As One.
In the 90's, Deodato
continued to be a vital force on the pop scene through his work with
Icelandic singer Bjork. In addition to arranging her last three albums:
1995's Post, 1996's Telegram and 1997's Homogenic, Deodato produced a
highly praised acoustic version of Bjork's “Isobel,” sub-titled Deodato
Mix, which became a club scene favorite. He has also produced material
for French singer Clementine (also touring Japan with her as a special
guest in 1994), arranged and produced a top 10 single for Brazilian
singer Gal Costa (1996) and has performed as guest conductor with Bjork
both in Brazil (1996), and in the States at the Tibetan Freedom Concerts
at Downing Stadium (1997). In 1998, Deodato arranged for Brazilian pop
acts Titans (Vol. II, with sales over 500,000 copies) and Carlinhos
Brown (Omelete Man) as well as for the latest album by pop-rock band
Penelope Charmosa (released in 1999). He was also special guest on a
project by Japanese pop star Akemi Kakihara, recorded in London during
the summer of 1998. In 1999, he scored Bossa Nova, a Bruno Barreto film
starring Amy Irving, and the following year produced the CD of that
score for Verve Records. His most recent projects including production
work for French rock singer Damien Saez, Brazilian-Japanese singer Lisa
Ono and for jazz singer Ann Hampton Callaway.
Deodato has also
worked on several movie scores, including The Onion Field, The Black
Pearl, Ghostbusters II, White Nights, The Girl From Ipanema, The
Adventurers (recorded with A.C. Jobim and the London Symphony
Orchestra), The Gentle Rain, Target Risk, The Reporter, Beat Street,
Body Rock and Bossa Nova. His recordings have also been widely used on
major movies such as Being There and The Exorcist.
In November
2001, Deodato participated in a benefit concert in New York City where
he played only 1 song (Also Sprach Zarathustra: 2001). The reaction was
so fantastic he got encouraged to go back doing concerts. By 2002 he
lined up a few selected presentations, starting with a concert at the
Vienna Opera House, as part of the Vienna Summer Jazz Festival. That was
followed by Villach (Austria), Pori (Finland), The Hague (North Sea
Jazz Festival), and many others that followed, like Capetown (South
Africa), Rome and Rimini (Italy), Amenia, NY (World Peace Organization),
Antigua, Guatemala etc.
Meanwhile, in 2002 he worked with Milton
Nascimento in Rio de Janeiro, which generated a Latin Grammy for the
song Tristesse as best Brazilian song of the year, then miscellaneous
work with different artists, including Barbara Mendes, Ana Carolina,
Fernanda Abreu and more recently, KD Lang for her record released in
2004.
In 2007 Brazilian Record company "Biscoito Fino", releases
the “Deodato Trio in Rio” CD and DVD (end of month), filmed and recorded
at the Sala Cecilia Meirelles in Rio last Summer, featuring Marcelo
Mariano on Bass and Renato Massa on Drums. It also includes performances
of some of the most memorable Antonio Carlos Jobim's songs and also
comemorates his postumous anniversary. Verve has also released “Do It
Again.”
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/eumir-deodato
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