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About Airto Moreira
Born in 1941 in a small Brazilian village, Airto has been
performing professionally since the age of 13. He has been advancing the
cause of world and percussion music as a member of the "Planet Drum"
percussion ensemble, with Mickey Hart, drummer for "The Grateful Dead",
and master conga player Giovanni Hidalgo and tabla virtuoso Zakir
Hussain, along with Flora Purim, Babatunde Olatunji, Sikiru Adepoju and
Vikku Vinayakram. Planet Drum won a Grammy Award in 1991 for World
Music. Airto also contributed to another Grammy Award winning ensemble,
"Dizzy Gillespie's United Nations Orchestra", which received the award
for Best Live Jazz Album.
In 1965 he met the singer Flora Purim in Rio de Janeiro. Flora moved to
the USA in 1967 and Airto followed her shortly after. When in New York
Airto began playing with musicians such as Reggie Workman, JJ Johnson,
Cedar Walton and bassist Walter Booker. It was through Booker that Airto
began playing with the greats - Cannonball Adderley, Lee Morgan, Paul
Desmond and Joe Zawinul, to name a few. Zawinul recommended Airto to
Miles Davis for a recording session in 1970 for the "Bitches Brew"
album. Davis then invited Airto to join his group, which included such
jazz icons as Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Chick Corea
and later John McLaughlin and Keith Jarrett. He remained with Miles for
two years, and appears on such releases as "Live/Evil", "Live at the
Fillmore", "On the Corner", "The Isle of Wight", "Bitches Brew" and
later releases including the "Fillmore Sessions". Following his stint
with Miles Davis, Airto was invited to form the original Weather Report
with Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Miroslav Vitous and Alphonse Mouzon
with whom he recorded "The Weather Report". Soon after, he joined Chick
Corea's original Return to Forever group with Flora Purim, Joe Farrell
and Stanley Clarke and they recorded the albums, "Return to Forever" and
"Light as a Feather".
His impact has been so powerful that Downbeat magazine added the
category of percussion to its readers and critic's polls, which he has
won over twenty times since 1973. He has been voted number one
percussionist by Jazz Times, Modern Drummer, Drum Magazine, Jazzizz
Magazine, Jazz Central Station's Global Jazz Poll on the Internet, as
well as in many European, Latin American and Asian publications.
Read Airto Moreira's full bio at:www.airto.com
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The Spirit of Percussion
is geared toward understanding and harnessing the spirit of percussion
through the exploration of traditional Afro-Brazilian rhythm, song and
culture.
Participants will learn about the spirit of percussion and how to
channel it hands-on, into the sounds and rhythms they create. They will
also study the way this energy is connected with the musicians and how
to manipulate the universal energy.
The styles of Airto's teachings are extremely diverse. The levels of his
workshops range from "simple beginner" through "highly advanced," The
Spirit of Percussion workshops are for everyone: from kids to adults. It
is fun and interactive.
Bring your own instrument so you can jam with Airto!
Don't have your own percussion instrument? OPC will have some
instruments available for use by workshop participants.
COST: Early bird special
(by May 5) $28
After May 5 - $35
OPC students $17
12 & under - Free
Group rates available
(call for info)
Limited number of work-exchange scholarships available
(call for info)
Space is limited so reserve
yours now by
sending a check or money order payable to "OPCMusic" to:
Oakland Public Conservatory of Music
1616 Franklin Street
Oakland, CA 94612
attn: AIRTO MASTER CLASS
Purchase online at brownpapertickets.com
For more information call
(510) 836-4649, ext.112
events@opcmusic.org
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