Ithamara Koorax posted on Facebook this morning that Laudir has passed away at age 77. His Wikipedia entry says he died yesterday of a heart attack while performing.
I can see why Sergio Mendes in 1970 installed Laudir behind the conga drums. What lightening fast hands. And his drumming on the Primal Roots album is one for the ages. And his singing on two tracks from the album was remarkable.
In 2015 I was in New York City on vacation and saw the legendary Marcos Valle and Carlos Lyra perform at the Birdland jazz club. As Laudir had worked with Marcos in the past, I asked Marcos after the show how Laudir was doing. He said he was fine and noted how they had done some songwriting together in the past. I said Laudir sure could keep the beat going and he agreed.
I was playing recently the Brasil 77 A&M and Bell albums and was impressed how Laudir's percussion rounded off their sound so perfectly. By 1974 he joined Chicago and how well I remember this song "Call on Me" with Laudir as great as ever. I sure remember this TV special with "Call on Me" performed live.
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