João Donato

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Donato 2007 in Rio Grande

João Donato de Oliveira Neto (born August 17, 1934 in Rio Branco , Acre ) is a Brazilian pianist , singer and composer in the jazz genre and bossa nova .

Life

Donato, the son of a pilot, grew up in a musical family and showed a talent for music from an early age. His father played the mandolin , his mother sang and Eneyda, his older sister, played the piano. The younger sister, who was more fond of literature, later played a major role in her brother's compositions. His first instrument was an accordion with which he composed his first piece, the waltz Nini , at the age of eight . Before his twelfth birthday, his father gave him accordions with 24 and 120 basses.

In 1945 the father was transferred to Rio de Janeiro . There he took part musically in celebrations of schools in the Tijuca district and the surrounding area. Participation in Ary Barroso's talent search on television was rejected because it did not want to show " child prodigies ". Before becoming a professional musician in 1949 at the age of 15, he took part in jam sessions at the home of the singer Dick Farney and at the Sinatra-Farney Fan Club, of which he was also a member. Johnny Alf , Nora Ney , Dóris Monteiro , Paulo Moura and even Jô Soares , on the bongos , were involved in these sessions.

On his first recording with the flutist Altamiro Carrilho's band , he played two pieces: Brejeiro by Ernesto Nazareth and Feliz aniversário by Altamiro. Shortly afterwards he switched to the violinist Fafá Lemos' group to replace Chiquinho do Acordeom. In 1953 he played with Os Namorados .

Donato worked with all the major representatives of the Bossa Nova movement, such as João Gilberto , Tom Jobim , Vinícius de Moraes and Johnny Alf . In 1958 he wrote his first hit with Gilberto, Minha Saudade . He is known as a musician for combining different styles such as jazz and Latin American music . Donato performed with his band João Donato e seu Trio and, according to Allmusic, released 29 albums under his own name. He also worked with Altamiro Carrilho , later with Tom Jobim, Astrud Gilberto and many others. He lived in the United States for much of the 1960s, as he did in the early 1970s, recording with Bud Shank , Ron Carter , Airto Moreira , Randy Brecker , Ray Barretto , Mongo Santamaría , Tito Puente , Cal Tjader and then with Eumir Deodato . From 1974 he worked with Gal Costa ; with Gilberto Gil he composed Lugar Comum (1974), Bananeira , Emoriô and Tudo Tem (all 1975).

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Commons : João Donato  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Donato, João
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Donato de Oliveira Neto, João (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Brazilian pianist, singer and composer
DATE OF BIRTH 17th August 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Rio Branco , Brazil