Wednesday, June 4, 2008

R.I.P.: J.T. Meirelles

João Theodoro Meirelles
(born October 10, 1940 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
died June 4, 2008 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Very sad news from Brazil
J.T. Meirelles died today at age 67. Arranger, conductor, composer, saxophone player, flutist. One of the most important musicians in the history of Brazilian music.
I'm devasted. Besides my big admiration for him as an artist, there's a very personal reason for my extreme sadness, a fact that "linked" me to Meirelles since my childhood: the first LP I ever purchased, when I was 4 years old in 1967, was Meirelles' "Brazilian Beat Vol. 2" (his name was mispelled "Meireles" on the cover).
I was walking in the streets of Copacabana with my father when I heard an "intriguing sound" coming from a record store.
I pushed my father into the store and asked him to purchase the LP for me.
That album consists mostly of "Carnival sambas and marchinhas", but the track I listened on the shop was a very good arrangement of "Mas Que Nada".
Later on we became friends. The last time he visited me was on August 30, 1987, when I still lived in Rio. He signed for me many of his albums. Meirelles felt very surprised to know that some of his recordings were being played in dancefloor-jazz clubs in Europe and reissued in Japan. And I feel honored for the fact that the first time ever that his recordings with the Copa 5 appeared on CD, long before the Dubas decision to reissue those LPs from 1964 and 1965, were in the compilation that Arnaldo DeSouteiro produced for Universal in 1998: "A Trip to Brazil, 40 Years of Bossa Nova", on which I have included the tracks "Tania" and "Preciso Aprender A Ser Só". More details:
http://jazzstation-oblogdearnaldodesouteiros.blogspot.com/2007/07/trip-to-brazil-40-years-of-bossa-nova.html
I'll pray for his soul right now. And listen to the great sounds he made!
*************
Official Meirelles website:
http://users.cjb.net/meirelleseoscopa5/index.htm

Detailed bio in Portuguese:
http://www.dicionariompb.com.br/verbete.asp?tabela=T_FORM_A&nome=J.+T.+Meirelles

Detailed bio in English:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fpfuxqr5ldde

MEIRELLES & COPA 5 IN ACTION AT THE "BOTTLE'S BAR" (Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) IN 1964
From left to right: Pedro Paulo (trumpet), Toninho Oliveira (piano), Manuel Gusmão (bass), Dom Um Romão (drums) and J.T. Meirelles (alto sax)

From left to right: Manuel Gusmão, Paulo Moura, Toninho Oliveira & J.T. Meirelles at the legendary "Beco das Garrafas" (Bottle's Alley) in Rio, 1964

More rare photos:
at

1 comment:

  1. Josslyn LuckettJune 4, 2008 at 4:32 PM

    thank you for this post, the great photos and the blog in general...wow, i'm humbled to see how rigorous you are with this blog...i just started blogging myself...i was googling the bassists david williams right now and that's how i landed on your blog (if you are in l.a. go see him at the bakery this week!)

    thank you,
    josslyn

    ReplyDelete