Donato-- a musical titan-- has died at 88. Words can hardly express his importance to 20th century Brazilian pop music. All Brazilian musical artists were in awe of his talent. His amazing musical songbook included tunes you could not categorize other than saying they were uniquely Donato. All his unforgettable melodies were intricately constructed, and yet they were easy to remember--no mean feat. He was at the studio with Brasil 66 when the "Look Around" album was recorded in 1967. The result was Brasil 66 recording his classic "The Frog," which for me was the group's greatest up-tempo recording. And here is that super Brasil 66 video of "The Frog."
JOAO DONATO RIP
- Thread starter lj
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The prior post failed to link up to his obituary, and so I will post a Wikipedia summary of his career.
en.wikipedia.org
João Donato - Wikipedia
I "discovered" him a year or so ago--I'd heard his music for decades but only bought a few of his recordings just recently. I also rediscovered Cal Tjader's The Prophet record and didn't realize until I started looking it over more closely that it was a collab with Donato--he composes half the songs on the record (and Tjader the other half), and plays keys throughout.
I've played the heck out of that two-fer CD I bought last year with his two early albums on it (A Bossa Muito Moderna and Muito a Vontade). ("Villa Grazia" appears on the first of the two albums and was the original name for what became "Bananeira.") They are a nice, clean transfer and sound excellent given their age. And the RCA record The New Sound of Brazil is sublime (with Claus Ogerman handling the strings).
BTW, those old 60s TV videos always look like a really bad LSD trip once the dancers appear.
Here is A Bossa Muito Moderna--"Villa Grazia" is the final track of the album:
And this is the RCA album The New Sound of Brazil--the opening track is familiar ("Amazonas").
I've played the heck out of that two-fer CD I bought last year with his two early albums on it (A Bossa Muito Moderna and Muito a Vontade). ("Villa Grazia" appears on the first of the two albums and was the original name for what became "Bananeira.") They are a nice, clean transfer and sound excellent given their age. And the RCA record The New Sound of Brazil is sublime (with Claus Ogerman handling the strings).
BTW, those old 60s TV videos always look like a really bad LSD trip once the dancers appear.
Here is A Bossa Muito Moderna--"Villa Grazia" is the final track of the album:
And this is the RCA album The New Sound of Brazil--the opening track is familiar ("Amazonas").
rockdoctor
Well-Known Member
That sounds like a Sergio Mendes record! Too bad Brasil '66 didn't record that.
Maybe that's why I liked it right away.... it was familiar without me realizing it.
It goes to show how long it's been since I've listened to Timeless.
It goes to show how long it's been since I've listened to Timeless.
How do you pronounce "Joao?" I've never heard the name spoken.
In Portuguese, the letter J is pronounced (unlike Spanish where it is silent). So Joao is pronounced "Jho-ow."
Kilgoretrout74
New Member
My favourite album of his:
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