Eumir Deodato facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eumir Deodato
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Deodato in Venice, c. 1970
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Eumir Deodato de Almeida |
| Also known as | Deodato |
| Born | 22 June 1942 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
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| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1959–present |
| Labels | CTI, MCA, Warner Bros. |
| Associated acts | Kool & the Gang John Tropea Hubert Laws |
Eumir Deodato de Almeida (born June 22, 1942) is a talented Brazilian musician. He is a pianist, composer, arranger, and record producer. Deodato is famous for mixing different music styles. He blends jazz with pop, rock, disco, rhythm and blues, classical, Latin, and bossa nova.
Deodato has worked on over 500 records for many famous artists. These include Frank Sinatra, Roberta Flack, and Björk. He also produced hit songs for Kool & the Gang. Some of these hits are "Celebration" and "Ladies' Night".
He has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. In 1974, he won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. This was for his song "Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)". The song was very popular, reaching number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1973.
Biography
Eumir Deodato was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 22, 1942. He started playing music when he was 12 years old. His first instrument was the accordion. Two years later, he began playing the piano.
He studied how to arrange music for orchestras and how to conduct. He played bossa nova music in bands. Later, he started his own band. This band included musicians like João Palma and Roberto Menescal.
Career
Recording Music
Deodato often plays the Fender Rhodes electric piano. He became a very successful keyboard player in the 1970s. He has produced and arranged music for more than 500 albums. Many of these albums have sold millions of copies.
His first album released in the U.S. was called Prelude in 1973. His song "Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)" from this album became a huge hit. It was a mix of different music styles that many people enjoyed. This album sold 5 million copies around the world. It also won Deodato a Grammy Award in 1974.
His next album, Deodato 2, also did very well. It reached number 19 on the Billboard album chart. The song "Rhapsody in Blue" from this album was also a hit. His version of "Pavane for a Dead Princess" by Maurice Ravel was used as background music on Australian TV.
In 1978, he had another hit song called "Whistle Bump." This song helped make whistles popular in nightclubs. He also released the song "Night Cruiser" in 1979. This song earned him another Grammy nomination. Deodato continued to record music throughout the 1980s.
In 2011, he released an album called The Crossing. He worked on this album with Lino Nicolosi and Pino Nicolosi. The album also featured singer Al Jarreau.
Arranging and Producing Music
Since the 1960s, Deodato has been a very sought-after producer and arranger. He has worked on over 500 albums. Fifteen of these albums have sold enough copies to be called "platinum."
In the early 1960s, he worked as an arranger for a record company called Odeon Records. He wrote music arrangements for many Brazilian artists. These included Marcos Valle and Leny Andrade. His first album, Inútil Paisagem (1964), was about the music of Antônio Carlos Jobim. Jobim himself praised Deodato's work on the album. Deodato also helped start the career of Milton Nascimento.
In 1967, Deodato moved to New York City. There, he worked with guitarist Luiz Bonfá. Bonfá introduced him to singer Astrud Gilberto and producer Creed Taylor. Taylor later hired Deodato to arrange music for artists on his label, CTI Records. These artists included Wes Montgomery and Paul Desmond.
Deodato also recorded with famous artists like Frank Sinatra and Roberta Flack. He produced four very successful albums for Kool & the Gang between 1979 and 1982. He also worked with singer Björk from 1996 to 1998. He arranged her albums Post, Telegram, and Homogenic. He also conducted orchestras for her concerts.
Deodato has also written orchestral arrangements for many films. These include The Gentle Rain (1965) and The Onion Field (1979). He also worked on the soundtracks for White Nights (1985) and Bossa Nova (2000).
Personal Life
Eumir Deodato was married to Ruth Deodato from 1963 to 1999. They have a daughter named Kennya Deodato, born in 1968. Kennya is married to actor Stephen Baldwin. Their granddaughter, Hailey Bieber, is married to Canadian singer Justin Bieber.
See also
In Spanish: Eumir Deodato para niños
