Percussion | b. 1941

Airto Moreira grew up in a family of folk healers in Curitiba and became a professional musician at thirteen, drawn to the percussion instruments of his own Brazilian tradition rather than the drum kit that jazz expected. By his mid-twenties he had co-founded Quarteto Novo in Rio with Hermeto Pascoal, and the group's 1967 self-titled album, mixing baião, samba and modern jazz, was the record that brought him to international attention. He followed Flora Purim to the United States in 1968, connected with Miles Davis through bassist Walter Booker and Joe Zawinul, and played on "Bitches Brew" (1970) and "Live-Evil" (1971) before becoming part of the two bands that defined early jazz fusion: Weather Report, whose 1971 debut he appeared on, and Chick Corea's Return to Forever, where he and Purim formed the Brazilian rhythmic core of the first two albums. His own CTI records, particularly "Free" (1972) and "Fingers" (1973), drew on the same musicians he'd been working alongside in those groups. Moreira's influence on his field was direct and documented: DownBeat added a percussion category to its polls in response to his stature and he won it eight consecutive times between 1975 and 1982. In 2002 Brazil's President Cardoso awarded him and Purim the Order of Rio Branco for cultural merit. Moreira, born 5 August 1941, remains active as a performer and teacher.