He helped lay the groundwork for bossa nova but defied confinement to any single genre.
Brazilian composer and pianist João Donato, who helped lay the groundwork for bossa nova but throughout his career defied confinement to any single genre, died Monday. He was 88.
His death was announced on his verified Instagram account. Local media reported that he had been hospitalized and intubated with pneumonia.
Donato was prolific and inventive, collaborating with top artists at home and abroad, including Chet Baker, João Gilberto, Sergio Mendes, Tito Puente, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa and countless others.
« Today we lost one of our greatest and most creative composers, » Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wrote on Twitter. « João Donato saw music in everything. He innovated, he passed through samba, bossa nova, jazz, forro and in the mixture of rhythm built something unique. He kept creating and innovating until the end. »
Donato was born in the Amazonian state of Acre on Brazil’s western border, far from the cultural hubs of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. He showed prodigious musical ability as a boy upon receiving an accordion as a Christmas gift and soon after his family moved to Rio began playing professionally.
He floated between two rival jazz fan clubs, playing at both, making contacts and leaving an impression.
