Eumir Deodato

Widely known as one of the most respected and sought-after producer, arranger, composer, performer in the music world, Deodato was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from Italian and Portuguese origin. A distant relative of Enrico Caruso, Deodato got started by playing the accordion at age 12. Shortly after, he started studying piano as well as orchestration, arranging and conducting, by himself, through books and observation and spending many evenings sitting behind orchestras and watching how they played. His first break came at age 17, when he arranged and conducted his first recording session for a 28-piece orchestra. Soon after, Deodato became one of the most respected arrangers and pianists in Rio's busy music scene during the bossa-nova era. At his parents' request, he continued his college studies for 3 more years, but eventually dedicated himself exclusively to music by playing and recording for such artists as Milton Nascimento, 'Marcos Valle', Elis Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim. In 1967, Deodato moved to New York invited by Luiz Bonfá, the legendary composer of "Black Orpheus" ('Morning Of Carnival'). Besides arranging many of Bonfá's records, Deodato also did extensive studio work for 'Astrid Gilberto', Walter Wanderley, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Marcos Valle, and many other Brazilian artists who were living in New York at that time. Shortly after that, he started working with Jazz artists such as Wes Montgomery, Ray Bryant and Stanley Turrentine. Later on, he achieved a strong reputation in the fields of pop and black music, arranging for Frank Sinatra ("Sinatra & Co."), Roberta Flack ("Killing Me Softly", "Chapter Two", "Quiet Fire"), Aretha Franklin ("Let Me In Your Life") and many others. Deodato has also worked on several movie scores, though this has never been his main occupation. Among them: The Onion Field (1979), Black Pearl (1970), The Gentle Rain (1966) and Target Risk (1975). He then exploded into the music scene as a leader, with his phenomenally successful version of "Also Sprach Zarathustra", mostly known as "2001: A Space Odyssey", taken from his acclaimed - and now legendary - solo debut album in the USA, "Prelude". The "2001" single became a mega hit, reaching the top pop charts in the USA as well as in many other countries, with sales of over 5 million copies at that time. Deodato received many awards from Billboard, Cashbox, Record World and Payboy magazines, culminating with a Grammy for best Pop/Rock Instrumental Performance and a nomination for Best Pop Artist of that year. After performing at the Hollywood Bowl with the CTI All-Stars Band, in 1972, due to a lot of requests, Deodato formed his own group. His debut appearance as a leader, billed as "2001 Space Concert", was at the Madison Square Garden, in New York 1973. After 7 years of world wide touring (including Australia, Japan, China, South America, Europe) and 8 coast to coast tours of the US, Deodato decided to concentrate on studio work once again, and get to work as a producer as well. Besides highly successful solo albums for the CTI, MCA, Warner And Atlantic labels, his work as a producer/arranger earned him several more laurels. One of his first productions was Kool and The Gang's "Celebration" (number 1 pop single), which projected him as one of the world's top producers. Since then he has applied his Midas touch in best selling albums for such acts as Earth, Wind & Fire, Michael Franks, Gwen Guthrie, Chuck Mangione, Breakfast Club, The Dazz Band, One Way, Con-Funk-Shun, Pretty Poison, Kevin Rowland (Dixie's Midnight Runners), White Lion and Brenda K. Starr for whom he produced the Top 5 pop hit "I Still Believe" in 1987. Not to mention three other multi-platinum albums for Kool & The Gang: "Lady's Night", Something Special" and "As One". To this date, Deodato has 16 platinum records to his credit as artist, arranger or producer with combined sales of well over 25 million records in the USA alone. His discography goes over 450 albums, including compilations and all the albums as arranger, producer and/or keyboardist. Deodato has also had the honor to perform with many Symphony Orchestras, including the St. Louis Symphony (which backed him on the superb "Artistry" album), the Cincinnati Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestra di Musica Leggera dell' Unione Musicisti di Roma. Artists such as George Benson, Lee Ritenour, Sarah Vaughan, Milt Jackson, Joe Pass, Duke Pearson, Perez Prado, The Emotions and many others have covered his songs. In the 90s, Deodato continues to be a vital force in the pop scene, working with Icelandic singer Bjork. Besides the arrangements for her last three albums, "Post" (1995), "Telegram" (1996) and "Homogenic" (1997), Deodato produced a highly praised acoustic version of Bjork's "Isobel", sub-titled "Deodato Mix" which became a favorite in the club scene. He has also produced material for French singer Clémentine (touring Japan with her, as a special guest in 1994), arranged and produced a top 10 single for Brazilian singer Gal Costa (1996). He has also performed as guest conductor with Bjork both in Brazil (1996), and in USA, at the Tibetan Freedom Concerts at Downing Stadium (1997). In 1998, Deodato arranged for Brazilian pop acts: Titãs ("Vol. II", with sales over 500,000 copies) and Carlinhos Brown ("Omelete Man"), as well as for the latest album by pop-rock band "Penélope Charmosa", released in 1999. He was also special guest on the latest project by Japanese pop star Akemi Kakihara, recorded in London on summer 98. In 1999, he scored Bossa Nova (2000), a Bruno Barreto film, starring Amy Irving and, in the year 2000, produced the CD of that score for Verve Records. His most recent projects including production work for Brazilian-Japanese singer Lisa Ono and for jazz singer Ann Hampton Callaway. Deodato has also worked on several movie scores, including The Onion Field, The Black Pearl, Ghostbusters II, White Nights, The Girl From Ipanema, The Adventurers (recorded with A.C. Jobim and the London Symphony Orchestra), The Gentle Rain, Target Risk, The Reporter, Beat Street, Body Rock and Bossa Nova. His recordings have also been widely used on major movies such as Being There and The Exorcist.