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Walter Wanderley

Walter Wanderley was a Brazilian organist and pianist, best known for his lounge and bossa nova music and for his instrumental version of the song Summer Samba which became a worldwide hit.

Wanderley was born in Recife, Brazil. Already famous in his native country by the late 1950s, he became an internationally renowned star in the mid-1960s through his collaboration with the singer Astrud Gilberto.

He recorded six albums on the Verve label between 1966 and 1968. Three of those albums, Rain Forest, Cheganca and Astrud Gilberto's A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness, were with a trio consisting of Wanderley, Claudio Slon (drums) and Jose Marino (bass) and were produced in the United States by Creed Taylor, who initially brought the trio to the U.S. to record at the persuasion of Tony Bennett. Wanderley's U.S. recording of Summer Samba reached No. 26 on the Billboard charts in the summer of 1966. Another album recorded during that period was Popcorn, in collaboration with the Brazilian singer-guitarist Luiz Henrique Rosa. Around that same period Wanderley also established the Carnival with Bob Matthews, João Palma, José Soares, and Janis Hansen; all former members of Sérgio Mendes' Brasil '66.

After the trio disbanded (though they were briefly reunited in 1971 for "The Return of the Original" on Canyon Records), Wanderley himself continued to record albums on Verve, A&M/CTI, and GNP Crescendo. During that time, he also made numerous personal appearances, including a concert tour of Mexico.

Wanderley was known for his distinctive staccato stuttering style and mastery of the Hammond B-3 organ and on later recordings and during live concerts a L Series Hammond. His later career was blighted by alcoholism and he died in relative obscurity of cancer in 1986 in San Francisco, California, aged 54.


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Video / DVD

They're Not Walter Wanderley

They're Not Walter Wanderley

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers


Video / DVD

Walter Wanderley: Sideman Sessions

Walter Wanderley: Sideman Sessions

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Brazilian organist Walter Wanderley was a Tony Bennett discovery. On one of Tony's South American tours in the early 1960s, he heard Wanderley backing a singer in a hotel and was taken with Wanderley's arrangements, jazz-tinged chord voicings and staccato solos. Tony brought back a bunch of Wanderley's Brazilian albums and gave them to Verve producer Creed Taylor. In 1966, Creed sent contracts to Wanderley and his trio to record. That year, Wanderley moved to San Francisco and recorded Rain ...

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Pure Bossa Nova | Walter Wanderley | Album

Pure Bossa Nova | Walter Wanderley | Album

Source: All About Jazz

The “number 1 organist in Brazil," Walter Wanderley proved that it was possible to combine good taste and modern arrangements in a commercial and danceable repertoire. His albums always made the “hit parade" of the time be it samba, rock, bolero and especially jazz Bossa-which was his biggest trademark thanks to the smash hit “Samba de Vero," recorded by him in the US in 1966. Tracks 1. Samba De Vero ...

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