Born: June 22, 1936 Primary Instrument: Piano
Hermeto Pascoal is a prolific musician and composer who transcends category. Hermeto often uses unconventional instruments such as teapots, children's toys, found objects, and--sometimes, without harming them--live animals. 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. He is an energetic and virtuosic soloist who can play proficiently on almost any instrument: keyboards, button accordion, saxophone, guitar, flute, voice, various brass instruments, and various folkloric instruments. A Brazilian television broadcast from 1999 showed him soloing at one point by singing into a cup with his mouth partially submerged in water.
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, Airto Moreira, Elis Regina, César Camargo Mariano and others) established widely influential new directions in post-bossa Brazilian Jazz.
He initially came to the international public's attention through an appearance on Miles Davis' 1971 album Live/Evil, which featured Pascoal on several studio 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.
Hermeto is a prolific composer, famous for his project Calendario 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.
Hermeto Pascoal
Buddha
1971
A Musica Livre de Hermeto Paschoal
Philips (Brazil)
1973
Slaves Mass
WEA (Brazil)
1976
Zabumba-Bum-A
WEA (Brazil)
1979
Ao Vivo em Montreux
WEA (Brazil)
1979
Cerebro Magnetico
WEA (Brazil)
1980
Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo
Som da Gente
1982
Lagoa da Canoa, Município da Araparaca
Som da Gente
1984
Brasil Universo
Som da Gente
1986
So não toca quem não quer
Som da Gente
1987
Hermeto Solo: Por Diferentes Caminhos
Som da Gente
1988
Festa dos Deuses
Polygram (Brazil)
1992
Eu Tu Eles
Radio MEC (Brazil)
1999
Mundo Verde Esperança
Radio MEC (Brazil)
2003
With Elis Regina
Elis Regina - Montreux Jazz Festival
WEA (Brazil)
1979
With Aline Moreno
Chimarrão Com Rapadura
Gaueste
2006
As a sideman
Quarteto Novo
EMI Odeon (Brazil)
1967
Brazilian Octopus
Fermata
1969
Disclaimer: All About Jazz is not responsible for the accuracy of the discographical data at the website(s) provided. If a link is no longer valid, please contact discography@allaboutjazz.com. Thank you.
