Biography
Brazil native Airto Moreira, also recognized by the shortened name Airto, established himself during the opening years of the 1960s as an imaginative percussion master and drummer through engagements in samba, bossa, and Brazilian jazz. After moving to the United States, he put out pivotal solo releases such as the landmark 1972 album Free, which integrated Brazilian roots with modal jazz, funk, and fusion. Having trained under Cannonball Adderley, he entered Miles Davis’s circle and appeared on roughly six historic recordings that include Bitches Brew and On the Corner. Moreira helped found Return to Forever, performed with the fusion ensemble Weather Report, and accumulated nearly 1,300 session credits across countless additional projects. From the early 1970s onward he has issued dozens of albums with his wife, the celebrated Brazilian vocalist Flora Purim, among them 1973’s Fingers, 2001’s Perpetual Emotion, and 2017’s Aluê. In 2023 BBE released the career-spanning retrospective Airto & Flora, A Celebration: 60 Years – Sounds, Dreams & Other Stories.
Born in 1941 in Itaiopolis, Brazil, Moreira spent his formative years in Curitiba, where he started singing and playing percussion while still very young. By age six he had already begun winning music contests and attracting local notice. He soon hosted a regional radio program and, at thirteen, performed his first professional engagement. At sixteen he relocated to São Paulo, where he played drums and percussion while singing in numerous bands and with established nightclub and television artists. His recording debut came as part of the pioneering samba group Sambalanço Trio alongside pianist Cesar Camargo Mariano and bassist Humberto Clayber on the 1964 album Samblues. Additional early sessions featured Wanda Sá, Raul de Souza, and Hermeto Pascoal.
While working in Rio de Janeiro during this period he met vocalist Flora Purim, whom he married in 1972. The couple relocated to New York City in 1967. There Moreira met bassist Walter Booker, who connected him with leading jazz figures including Cannonball Adderley, Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter, Paul Desmond, and Joe Zawinul. He joined Adderley’s band and, through Zawinul’s introduction, participated in Miles Davis’s landmark 1970 fusion recording Bitches Brew. Moreira remained with Davis for the following two years, appearing on On the Corner, Live/Evil, and Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East. After leaving Davis he joined Weather Report and simultaneously entered the original lineup of Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, contributing to the 1972 albums Return to Forever and Light as a Feather. As one of the era’s most sought-after fusion musicians, Moreira recorded on dozens of projects throughout the 1970s, among them Freddie Hubbard’s Red Clay, Joe Henderson’s In the Pursuit of Blackness, and Eumir Deodato’s Prelude. He also worked beyond jazz circles with Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, and Average White Band. In 1973 Down Beat magazine introduced a percussion category to its polls in acknowledgment of his influence, an award he has received more than twenty times.
As a bandleader Moreira debuted with 1970’s Natural Feelings, which featured his wife Purim, bassist Ron Carter, and Brazilian colleagues Sivuca and Hermeto Pascoal. Subsequent releases included 1972’s Seeds on the Ground and the CTI classic Free, the latter containing brass arrangements by Don Sebesky plus contributions from Purim, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Hubert Laws, Joe Farrell, and George Benson. These recordings blended Brazilian traditions with funk, fusion, and modal jazz. Further cross-genre albums appeared during the decade, among them 1973’s Fingers, 1975’s Identity, and the 1979 Grammy-nominated Touching You Touching Me. He also participated in nearly all of Purim’s projects, including 1973’s Butterfly Dreams, 1976’s Open Your Eyes You Can Fly, and 1979’s Carry On.
During the following decade Moreira maintained a busy studio schedule after moving to California, collaborating with George Duke, Corea, Jarrett, Leon Ware, Paul Simon, Bobby Hutcherson, and many others. He and Purim led their own ensembles and issued 1985’s Three-Way Mirror (with Joe Farrell) and 1986’s The Magicians. Two further albums appeared on New York’s Montuno label: 1986’s Aqui Se Puede and 1989’s Samba de Flora. The couple also joined Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart on 1989’s Däfos and the 1991 Grammy-winning world-music album Planet Drum, alongside Giovanni Hidalgo, Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayakram, Babatunde Olatunji, and Sikiru Adepoju.
In 1992 Moreira and Purim performed with Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nation Orchestra on the Grammy-winning concert recording Live at the Royal Festival Hall. Moreira returned as a leader with 1993’s Killer Bees, featuring Purim’s vocals and production along with Gary Meek and Hiram Bullock, followed by 1995’s Jump. He and Purim formed the ensemble Fourth World with guitarist José Neto, bassist Gary Brown, and keyboardist/flutist Jovino Santos. Additional appearances included dates with Al Di Meola, Dianne Reeves, and Carlos Santana.
In the 2000s Moreira began teaching as a professor in UCLA’s Ethnomusicology department while continuing to record. The 2000 album Homeless featured vocals from the couple’s daughter Diana Moreira Booker. Diana, married to percussionist/instrumentalist Krishna Booker, also appeared on 2003’s Life After That. In recognition of their contributions to Brazil’s international profile, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso inducted the couple into the Order of Rio Branco. Moreira next recorded 2008’s Ears to the Ground with pianist Jacob Anderskov.
Aluê appeared in 2017 and again featured Diana Moreira Booker as well as Fourth World member José Neto. The album included a new version of the title track, which had originally appeared on 1971’s Seeds on the Ground. In 2022 Moreira joined the studio ensemble for Gretchen Parlato’s Flor and appeared on Purim’s If You Will, which prominently included Diana. England’s BBE label issued the multi-disc retrospective Airto & Flora, A Celebration: 60 Years – Sounds, Dreams & Other Stories in November 2023.
Born in 1941 in Itaiopolis, Brazil, Moreira spent his formative years in Curitiba, where he started singing and playing percussion while still very young. By age six he had already begun winning music contests and attracting local notice. He soon hosted a regional radio program and, at thirteen, performed his first professional engagement. At sixteen he relocated to São Paulo, where he played drums and percussion while singing in numerous bands and with established nightclub and television artists. His recording debut came as part of the pioneering samba group Sambalanço Trio alongside pianist Cesar Camargo Mariano and bassist Humberto Clayber on the 1964 album Samblues. Additional early sessions featured Wanda Sá, Raul de Souza, and Hermeto Pascoal.
While working in Rio de Janeiro during this period he met vocalist Flora Purim, whom he married in 1972. The couple relocated to New York City in 1967. There Moreira met bassist Walter Booker, who connected him with leading jazz figures including Cannonball Adderley, Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter, Paul Desmond, and Joe Zawinul. He joined Adderley’s band and, through Zawinul’s introduction, participated in Miles Davis’s landmark 1970 fusion recording Bitches Brew. Moreira remained with Davis for the following two years, appearing on On the Corner, Live/Evil, and Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East. After leaving Davis he joined Weather Report and simultaneously entered the original lineup of Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, contributing to the 1972 albums Return to Forever and Light as a Feather. As one of the era’s most sought-after fusion musicians, Moreira recorded on dozens of projects throughout the 1970s, among them Freddie Hubbard’s Red Clay, Joe Henderson’s In the Pursuit of Blackness, and Eumir Deodato’s Prelude. He also worked beyond jazz circles with Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, and Average White Band. In 1973 Down Beat magazine introduced a percussion category to its polls in acknowledgment of his influence, an award he has received more than twenty times.
As a bandleader Moreira debuted with 1970’s Natural Feelings, which featured his wife Purim, bassist Ron Carter, and Brazilian colleagues Sivuca and Hermeto Pascoal. Subsequent releases included 1972’s Seeds on the Ground and the CTI classic Free, the latter containing brass arrangements by Don Sebesky plus contributions from Purim, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Hubert Laws, Joe Farrell, and George Benson. These recordings blended Brazilian traditions with funk, fusion, and modal jazz. Further cross-genre albums appeared during the decade, among them 1973’s Fingers, 1975’s Identity, and the 1979 Grammy-nominated Touching You Touching Me. He also participated in nearly all of Purim’s projects, including 1973’s Butterfly Dreams, 1976’s Open Your Eyes You Can Fly, and 1979’s Carry On.
During the following decade Moreira maintained a busy studio schedule after moving to California, collaborating with George Duke, Corea, Jarrett, Leon Ware, Paul Simon, Bobby Hutcherson, and many others. He and Purim led their own ensembles and issued 1985’s Three-Way Mirror (with Joe Farrell) and 1986’s The Magicians. Two further albums appeared on New York’s Montuno label: 1986’s Aqui Se Puede and 1989’s Samba de Flora. The couple also joined Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart on 1989’s Däfos and the 1991 Grammy-winning world-music album Planet Drum, alongside Giovanni Hidalgo, Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayakram, Babatunde Olatunji, and Sikiru Adepoju.
In 1992 Moreira and Purim performed with Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nation Orchestra on the Grammy-winning concert recording Live at the Royal Festival Hall. Moreira returned as a leader with 1993’s Killer Bees, featuring Purim’s vocals and production along with Gary Meek and Hiram Bullock, followed by 1995’s Jump. He and Purim formed the ensemble Fourth World with guitarist José Neto, bassist Gary Brown, and keyboardist/flutist Jovino Santos. Additional appearances included dates with Al Di Meola, Dianne Reeves, and Carlos Santana.
In the 2000s Moreira began teaching as a professor in UCLA’s Ethnomusicology department while continuing to record. The 2000 album Homeless featured vocals from the couple’s daughter Diana Moreira Booker. Diana, married to percussionist/instrumentalist Krishna Booker, also appeared on 2003’s Life After That. In recognition of their contributions to Brazil’s international profile, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso inducted the couple into the Order of Rio Branco. Moreira next recorded 2008’s Ears to the Ground with pianist Jacob Anderskov.
Aluê appeared in 2017 and again featured Diana Moreira Booker as well as Fourth World member José Neto. The album included a new version of the title track, which had originally appeared on 1971’s Seeds on the Ground. In 2022 Moreira joined the studio ensemble for Gretchen Parlato’s Flor and appeared on Purim’s If You Will, which prominently included Diana. England’s BBE label issued the multi-disc retrospective Airto & Flora, A Celebration: 60 Years – Sounds, Dreams & Other Stories in November 2023.
Albums
Breakcore, Lust & Massacre
2020
Fingers (CTI Records 40th Anniversary Edition)
2011
The Best Of Airto
1994
Samba De Flora
1989
Aqui Se Puede
1986
Virgin Land
1974
Free
1972
Seeds On the Ground - The Natural Sounds of Airto
1971
Natural Feelings
1970
Singles
