Laurindo Almeida

Guitarist Laurindo Almeida was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 2, 1917. He was already one of Brazil's most famous musicians when Stan Kenton heard him playing in a Rio de Janeiro nightclub and invited him to come to the U.S. in 1947. He played with Kenton's band during the height of its success in the late 1940s. Then settled in Los Angeles, working both as a studio musician and an active member of the jazz scene.

He recorded with Baden Powell, Stan Getz, Herbie Mann and others, and enjoyed some success when bossa nova was at its peak, with his own album, Viva Bossa Nova.

He wrote more than 200 compositions, among them his First Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra. He also composed and recorded music for over 800 movies & TV series.
From the 1960s until the 1980s he was a member of the chamber-jazz group the L.A. Four (with Bud Shank, Shelley Manne and Ray Brown).

Almeida also performed classical music and is credited with the American debut recordings of works by two of Brazil's greatest composers: Villa-Lobos’ Guitar Concerto and Radames Gnattali’s Concerto de Copacabana.

It was during the 1960s when he enjoyed his greatest recognition, winning Grammy Awards for the albums Spanish Guitars of Laurindo Almeida and Conversations with the Guitar in 1961, for Reverie for Spanish Guitars and Discantus (he shared that with Igor Stravinsky for best contemporary composition!) in 1962, and for Guitar from Ipanema in 1965.

In 1971, he married Deltra Eamon, lyric soprano from Canada.

Laurindo Almeida passed away on July 26, 1995 in Los Angeles, California.

* .. my personal favourite :)