Collection: Deodato

Born Eumir Deodato de Almeida in Rio de Janeiro on 22 June 1943, Deodato became one of the most successful and prolific artists to emerge from Brazil's bossa nova scene, known for his eclectic fusion of jazz, pop, rock, disco, classical, and Latin music. Self-taught from age 12 on accordion and then piano, he gained his first break at 17 arranging and conducting a 28-piece orchestra. By the early 1960s he was one of Rio's most respected arrangers and pianists during the bossa nova era, working with Antônio Carlos Jobim, Marcos Valle, Elis Regina, and Milton Nascimento. In 1967 he moved to New York at the invitation of Luiz Bonfá, arranging for Astrud Gilberto, Walter Wanderley, and jazz artists including Wes Montgomery and Stanley Turrentine before joining producer Creed Taylor at CTI Records around 1970.

His 1973 CTI debut Prelude became a sensation, featuring a nine-minute funky fusion version of Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)" that won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album climbed to number 3 on the Billboard album chart, CTI's best-selling release, with backing from John Tropea, Billy Cobham, Ron Carter, Stanley Clarke, and Airto Moreira. Deodato's Fender Rhodes work defined the jazz-fusion sound of the 1970s. Since then he has arranged and produced over 500 albums, with 15 reaching platinum status, including Kool & the Gang's hits "Celebration", "Ladies' Night", and "Too Hot", plus work for Frank Sinatra, Roberta Flack, Björk, and k.d. lang. His granddaughter is Hailey Bieber.