Laurindo Almeida Guitar Tab Books, Instruction DVDs, Solos, Arrangements, Video Lessons

    Laurindo Almeida was born in Brazil in September 1917. He was without a doubt one of the most creative guitar players of the 20th century. He was among the very few guitarists to accomplish great success in both the classical and jazz fields of music. Charlie Byrd was the only other guitarist to do so.

    Almeida was the complete musician, not just a fantastic solo guitarist and accompanist with a unique warm sound, but also an outstanding composer and arranger. His overall musical talent and original concepts gained him enormous international respect amongst his peers in the 60 plus years of his critically acclaimed career.

    Laurindo Almeida received his early musical training from his mom who was a classical pianist. She really hoped that he too would end up being a pianist however, Laurindo fell in love with a guitar owned by his sister Maria. In a brief time it became clear to all around him that he was on the way to being a master guitarist. In 1936 he signed on with a Brazilian cruise line, the "Cuyaba".

    Throughout the trip to Europe Laurindo took in a variety of musical styles including his very first exposure to jazz. On a visit to Paris he heard the "Hot Club of France" string quintet starring the Gypsy virtuoso guitar player Django Reinhardt. This group made a great impression on him. On his return to Brazil he settled in Rio and signed up for the position of staff guitar player / arranger with Radio Mayrink Veiga.

    By 1944 Almeida had actually reached the heights of his career in Brazil. In 1947 he decided to transfer to the USA and settle in Hollywood. Here he worked as a studio musician in films and as a classical guitar solo musician with violinist Elizabeth Waldo. His interest in jazz assisted him in getting the guitar seat in the well-known Stan Kenton Orchestra which ended up becoming famous throughout the entire world for its contributions to jazz music. His most exceptional recordings with Kenton were his solo guitar work in Pete Rugolo's "Lament" and his own composition "Amazonia".

    In 1950 Laurindo Almeida left The Stan Kenton Orchestra to lead a more varied musical profession. In 1953-54 he joined forces with saxophonist Bud Shank and with the addition of bass and drums tape-recorded three fantastic recordings entitled "Brazilliance". These recordings were the forerunners of bossa nova which blended Brazilian rhythms with American jazz.

    Almeida's impressive taste as an arranger, guitarist, and composer shines through on all these recordings. It was throughout this time that he made the very first of many solo guitar albums of both classical and popular music for the Capitol and Decca record labels. In 1963-64 he toured the world as a spotlighted soloist with The Modern Jazz Quartet. This association initially started as a project for the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival.

    In 1966 Laurindo made the American debut recordings of Radames Gnattalt's "Concerto de Copacabana" and the Villa-Lobos Guitar Concerto. Throughout his professional career Almeida was years ahead of his peers in his promoting of the guitar music of Barrios, Gnattali, Villa-Lobos, and other outstanding South American composers. From the 1960s on he performed, recorded, and published through his Brazilliance Publishing Company the guitar works of these and other terrific South American musicians.

    In the 1970s Laurindo once more gained excellent global recognition with his "L.A. Four" quartet which included saxophonist Bud Shank, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Shelley Manne. This group was a direct extension of his initial Brazilliance quartet. From the 1970s right up to time of his death Laurindo Almeida stayed among the most esteemed guitar player / composer / arrangers in Hollywood. He frequently taped and concertized with his spouse Deltra (Didi) Eamon, the gifted Canadian soprano whom he wed in 1971.

    Laurindo Almeida won 10 Grammy Awards and had a long list of movie scores to his name consisting of "Viva Zapata, The Godfather, A Star is Born, Camelot, and The Agony and the Ecstasy". He was a prolific composer. One of the Grammy Awards was for his composition "Discantus" which tied with Igor Stravinsky's "Moments For Piano and Orchestra" in 1961 for finest modern composition.

    His numerous creative works included concertos for guitar and orchestra (he tape-recorded his very first concerto on the Concord Concerto label in November 1979) and his classical guitar quintet. Almeida received an Oscar for composing the music to the animated fable "The Magic Tree". In October 1977 he was awarded the Certificate of Appreciation from the American String Teachers Association for "a lifetime of outstanding and devoted service to the guitar in the United States".

    Laurindo likewise published several valuable books of fingerstyle arrangements of classical and jazz compositions for solo guitar as well as an outstanding guitar technique book. These works are an extensive contribution to the 20th century repertoire for the guitar. He gave his entire collection of over 1,000 pieces of music and creative compositions to the California State University at Northridge.

    Laurindo Almeida was one of the busiest and most popular guitar players in the United States. There is no doubt that through his huge amount of recordings, publications, and lots of concert performances that he was one of the most influential guitarists on the North American scene as well as the entire world for over forty years. He died in Los Angeles on July 26, 1995.

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