Backgrounder: Moacir Santos - Coisas

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 14, 2023
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Moacir Santos was a Brazilian composer, multi-instrumentalist and educator who never became as well known as his peers, including

Bola Sete

guitar
1923 - 1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Bola Sete and

Baden Powell

guitar, acoustic
1937 - 2000

" data-original-title="" title="">Baden Powell. While he collaborated on songs with Nara Le?o,

Roberto Menescal

guitar
b.1937

" data-original-title="" title="">Roberto Menescal and

" data-original-title="" title="">Sergio Mendes among others, he privately taught artists who went on to become highly successful global bossa nova singers and songwriters.

In 1965, he released Coisas (Things, in English), which combined the new Brazilian beat with big band jazz. The album didn't attract much attention when it was released, but over time it was heralded as the first to create such a fusion. He moved to Los Angeles in 1967 with hopes of writing for the movies. While he achieved that goal, much of his work was uncredited. He continued to give lessons in L.A., where he met

Horace Silver

piano
1928 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Horace Silver and recorded three albums for Blue Note in the 1970s. Santos died in 2006.

Here's Moacir Santos's Coisas album on Brazil's Forma label without ad interruptions...

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This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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