He is a remarkable Brazilian composer, guitarist, and arranger. His mother, a concert pianist, introduced him to music. He would choose to play the guitar, just like his sister. Almeida was a teenager who witnessed and took part in a lot of civil unrest. This experience ignited a passion for politics and gave him the drive to pursue it as a career. He was 19 when he joined the Cuyaba ocean liner, where he performed as a musician. This allowed him to travel to Europe and hear Django Reinhardt perform in Paris. It also gave him the opportunity to experience foreign culture. He formed Cordas Quentes, a Brazilian guitar duo, with Garoto. Garoto met him at Radio Mayrink Veiga, Rio de Janeiro. He went on tour in 1947 with Carmen Miranda, the actress and singer. He was soon taken to Hollywood where he appeared on soundtracks for films and performed in concerts with Elizabeth Waldo, a violinist. He also wrote the first of more than 800 scores for television and movies. His soundtracks to The Old Man and the Sea (1958), and The Magic Pear Tree (70) were his Oscars. He joined the Stan Kenton Orchestra, and soon became a soloist. He settled in Los Angeles after three years and started a prolific recording career, which would earn him ten Grammy Awards. Almeida had a wide range of emotional and stylistic expressions. The bossa nova sound was established in America by Almeida’s early ’50s Brazilliance album with Bud Shank, many years before it became a popular fad. He recorded and toured with The Modern Jazz Quartet. He was equally comfortable with both classical and modern concert music such as Gnattali’s Concerto de Copacabana or the Guitar Concerto de Villa-Lobos. Allmusic
