Thiago de Mello
Thiago de Mello’s background is quite unusual for a musician. Before becoming a full time musician, Thiago worked as soccer coach for Botafogo (historic soccer team from Rio). In 1966, Thiago went to the U.S. to work for New York Generals, future Cosmos, but he decided to trade sports for music.
Brother of the poet Thiago de Mello, his first name is Gaudêncio. Thiago has lived in New York since 1966, and has become a well-known musician in the jazz circuit, working as a composer, arranger and leader of the Amazon band.
Thiago has created what he calls organic percussion, using instruments made out of pieces of wood from the Amazon rainforest, as well as turtle shells from the Amazon region, where he grew up.
Thiago’s technique appears in Paul Winter and Sharon Isbin’s works. With Isbin, Thiago recorded the album, "Journey to the Amazon", which received a Grammy nomination for classical crossover, in 1999.
Thiago’s music fills in the gap between pop music and semi-classical music, reflecting Thiago’s background in Manaus (capital of Amazonas) , where he was exposed to Baptist Church hymns, the folk music of Boi Bumbá, pieces by Schubert and Chopin and also jazz.
His 1973 album, "Amazon", includes the performances of pianist Don Salvador, percussionist Airto Moreira, trumpeter Cláudio Roditi and saxophonist Paulo Moura. Rediscovered and re-released in 1999, the album reached number one on Tower Records’ sales chart in the world music category. In Brazil, the album was released in 2000 by Jazz Station Records.
Thiago and his band, Amazon, performed regularly at the New York club Sweet Basil in the 80’s and 90’s. The result of this work was compiled on the record "Sweet Brasil".
Thiago performed at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. He was backed up by guitarist Oscar Castro Neves and new age saxophonist Paul Winter. In February 2000, he came to Brazil to play in the show "Bossa Nova Meets Drum’n’bass", with singer Ithamara Koorax, and to give a workshop on organic percussion.
Brother of the poet Thiago de Mello, his first name is Gaudêncio. Thiago has lived in New York since 1966, and has become a well-known musician in the jazz circuit, working as a composer, arranger and leader of the Amazon band.
Thiago has created what he calls organic percussion, using instruments made out of pieces of wood from the Amazon rainforest, as well as turtle shells from the Amazon region, where he grew up.
Thiago’s technique appears in Paul Winter and Sharon Isbin’s works. With Isbin, Thiago recorded the album, "Journey to the Amazon", which received a Grammy nomination for classical crossover, in 1999.
Thiago’s music fills in the gap between pop music and semi-classical music, reflecting Thiago’s background in Manaus (capital of Amazonas) , where he was exposed to Baptist Church hymns, the folk music of Boi Bumbá, pieces by Schubert and Chopin and also jazz.
His 1973 album, "Amazon", includes the performances of pianist Don Salvador, percussionist Airto Moreira, trumpeter Cláudio Roditi and saxophonist Paulo Moura. Rediscovered and re-released in 1999, the album reached number one on Tower Records’ sales chart in the world music category. In Brazil, the album was released in 2000 by Jazz Station Records.
Thiago and his band, Amazon, performed regularly at the New York club Sweet Basil in the 80’s and 90’s. The result of this work was compiled on the record "Sweet Brasil".
Thiago performed at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. He was backed up by guitarist Oscar Castro Neves and new age saxophonist Paul Winter. In February 2000, he came to Brazil to play in the show "Bossa Nova Meets Drum’n’bass", with singer Ithamara Koorax, and to give a workshop on organic percussion.
Discography
Discos de carreira
JOURNEY TO THE AMAZON - THIAGO DE MELLO (Percussão) - SHARON IRBIN (Violão) - PAUL WINTER (Sax)
Teldec (Alemanha) - 1997
Coletâneas
