Eumir Deodato was born in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. He is of Portuguese and Italian descent. Soon after, he began studying piano and orchestration, arranging, and conducting. He was strictly self-taught and spent hours studying theory, while also spending many evenings behind orchestras watching how each part was performed. At age 17, he organized and conducted his first recording session with a 28-piece orchestra. Deodato was soon one of Rio’s most respected arrangers and pianists, recording for artists such as Milton Nascimento and Marcos Valle. Deodato immigrated to New York in 1968 and started working with Luiz Bonnefa, the famous composer of Black Orpheus. He also did extensive studio work for Astrud Gilberto and Walter Wanderley as well as Marcos Valle, Antonio Carlos Jobim and other Brazilian artists living in New York. Creed Taylor hired Deodato to arrange the arrangements for Astrud Gilberto’s Beach Samba. His arrangements for Frank Sinatra (Sinatra) helped to strengthen his reputation in pop and black music.
