Hermeto Pascoal

Hermeto Pascoal is a Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist born in Arapiraca, countryside of Alagoas (Northeast Brazil).

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He uses nature as a basis for his compositions. Hermeto often uses non-coventional instruments such as teapots, children's toys and, sometimes, animals. He is an energetic and virtuosic soloist who can play proficiently on basically any instrument: keyboards, soprano saxophone, guitar, flute, voice, various brass instruments, and many non-traditional things as well. A Brazilian television broadcast from 1999 showed him soloing at one point by singing into a cup with his mouth partially submerged in water.

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He initially came to the 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 70's on he has mostly led his own groups, playing at many prestigious venues, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1979.

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Known as o bruxo (the sorcerer), o mago (the magician) or "o campe?o" (the champion), Pascoal is a true albino and a very large man. He suffered from ridicule in his native birthplace and loved America because, he said, he was respected there for his music and was not seen as a "monster" by people on the street. Today, however, he is widely respected and well-known in his country.

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Brazilian: Brazilian may refer to anything of or relating to Brazil and may also refer directly to:...

Composer: A composer is a person who writes music. The term refers particularly to someone who writes music in some type of musical notation, thus allowing others to perform the music. This distinguishes the composer from a musician who improvises. However, a person may be called a composer without creating m...

Multi-instrumentalist: A Multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays multiple instruments (not necessarily at the same time). Multi-instrumentalists are most common in jazz and progressive rock as well as in other types of music. The Bachelor of Music degree often requires multiple instruments to be learned....