Cathedral at Romão

Dom Um Romão (born August 3, 1925 in Rio de Janeiro ; † July 26, 2005 there ) was a Brazilian drummer and percussionist . He was a member of Weather Report .

Life

Romão was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1925, the son of a Portuguese woman and an African. As a young boy, Dom accompanied his father (a drummer) to performances and set up and dismantled the drums. At the age of twelve he was already working as a street musician and later also led his own groups. He began his professional career in the late 1940s when he worked as a drummer with Rádio Tupi and accompanied a variety of different musicians. With the advent of Bossa Nova , its name became known through collaborations with famous musicians such as Elizeth Cardoso , João Gilberto , Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes .

He began to play with the group of Sérgio Mendes , which in 1962 conquered Carnegie Hall in New York in a historic concert of Brazilian music . In the mid-1960s she performed with Elis Regina , the Quarteto em Cy and Flora Purim .

In 1965 he moved to the USA on the recommendation of Norman Granz , where he worked as a studio musician and worked alongside Stan Getz , Cannonball Adderley , Tony Bennett , Robert Palmer , Blood, Sweat & Tears , Annette Peacock and with the exiled Brazilians Luiz Bonfá , Astrud Gilberto and João Donato played. In 1967 he was involved in the recordings for the critically considered seminal album Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim under the direction of Claus Ogerman . In 1972 he recorded his first record as a soloist and replaced the percussionist Airto Moreira in the Weather Report group , with whom he stayed until 1976 ( Sweetnighter ). In 1976 he appeared again with Astrud Gilberto and Julie Janeiro in New York in a show “A night full of samba , jazz and capoeira ”. This is how he presented his LP Hotmosphere . In New York he temporarily ran his own music studio and club ( Black Bean ) in the 1970 / 80s .

In 1977 Dom Um Romão came to Switzerland for health reasons. There he met Fredy Studer and worked with the Swiss jazz rock band OM . He also performed with George Gruntz's Percussion Profiles . During this time Dom Um Romão passed on his skills and experience in Europe in workshops. In this work he was supported by a. the bassist Miroslav Vitouš and the vocalist Mario (Maro) Bogosavljevic. The WDR reported on this work in a broadcast.

Tours with the Dom Um Romão Quintet followed . A large number of internationally known top musicians in various line-ups came together here. At that time, Dom lived in Frankfurt am Main and also taught in the Frankfurter Musikwerkstatt (FMW). He made a record with Robert Palmer and worked with Christy Doran and Peter Schärli . At the end of the 1980s, a breathtaking samba production was created in Germany and Brazil, in which Dom Um Romão processed his experiences in Europe. Pieces like Inez , EuroSamba and many more were born. He was accompanied by Brazilian musicians (R. Nacimento, R. Franzesko, Jonas (Mo) Da Silva and Maro) and the singer Julie Janeiro, who came specially from New York. This document of modern samba music has not yet been published.

From the 1990s onwards, Dom Um Romão performed mainly in Brazil, where he recorded various records. He is one of the most prominent drummers and percussionists in Brazil.

Dom Um Romão died of a stroke in Rio de Janeiro in 2005 at the age of 80 .

Discography (selection)

• Dom Um (Phillips), 1965
• Dom Um Romão (Muse Records), 1972
• Spirit of times, 1973
• Hotmosphere, 1976
• unpublished: 1988 Dom Um Romao - Inez u. a. m. (Julie, Ronaldo, Maro, Mo, Pi and Dom)
• Saudades, 1993
• Rhythm traveler, 1998
• Lake of Perseverance, 2001
• Nu Jazz meets Brazil, (JSR / Irma)
• Teu nome Pixinguinha, 2002 (with Marcelo Vianna)

Web links

• Dom Um Romão on clubedejazz.com.br (Portuguese) ( Memento from July 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
• Dom Um Romao on allaboutjazz.com (English)
• Discography

Individual evidence

1. ↑ allmusic.com: Dom Um Romão