The life, art and legacy of Airto Moreira

[@JordanFerguson]

*CORRECTIONS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS* It's my first time doing this type of video so any feedback is welcome! 1) If you don't finish the video, these days Airto is rather unwell and the family have a gofundme to support him that I've included as the top link in the description. 2) Yes I know the picture is Earth Wind and Fire as Weather Report - it was a mistake at the last bit of editing..

[@gregmock6808]

Airto and Flora stayed at my home when we opened for them in Nevada City California in around 1983....I was in a Salsa band at the time and I was really impressed with all the Brazilian musicians with them as well...like a big family! Great memory. I loved their work with Return to Forever as well as their solo projects...Airto was the first person I saw play a berimbau ( bow and arrow type instrument with a gourd resonator)

[@kraka2oanIner]

I MET them both; they were real, genuine humans.

[@gregmock6808]

​@@kraka2oanIner wonderful people...really poeple who live life the way it should be lived!

[@joecrowaz]

Years ago I got to mix Flora live. She did the most incredible thing. She handed me two microphones and explained how she would like one absolutely dry. No Reverb. And the other DRIPPING with reverb. That way she could mix the amount of reverb she wanted at any given note just by the proximity of the wet microphone. Amazing.

[@JordanFerguson]

That’s fascinating to hear! That’s blown my mind!! What a technique

[@Nichilistaiconoclasta]

I saw Flora live abt 40 years ago in Milan, she sang with 2 microphones, t was a fantastic concert!

[@kraka2oanIner]

I'll never forget him; he played an utterly VIRTUOSO -tambourine. At least 5-6 minutes, with a hugely wide variety of sounds. I LOVED that era of music...lots of incredible jazz & fusion, eclipsing what was going on in rock 'n' roll, IMO.

[@juliocesarpereira4325]

I was introduced to Airto Moreira in 1979 by a friend. He expanded the horizons of music. As a Brazilian, I'm very proud of him. Thanks for showing your admiration and love for Airto.

[@JeraldMYates]

I learned a ton from this. You did a lot of justice for Airto. I was fortunate to see him play with Weather Report in the 1980’s. Thank you, Jordan ! 😊

[@JordanFerguson]

Appreciate it Jerald! Aw man to have seen him with Weather Report is amazing🤩🤩🤩

[@jamestweedy2478]

Saw Airto and Flora three times in concert. Any time they were in the area, my friends and I would go see them.

[@randyclere2330]

OPEN YOUR EYES, YOU CAN FLY!!! Absolutely the best!!

[@violao206]

I had the great fortune to see Flora and Airto (Forth World) perform live in Seattle at Jazz Alley 1993. What was even more thrilling was meeting them both after the show. They were both such lovely people. Airto also performed at a Bumbershoot Festival solo with mainly just his Pandeiro. He was just amazing.

[@randyclere2330]

I saw that gig!!! It was killer!!!

[@jamescox8402]

Airto and Flora were a big influence on me with their wild freedom and colour. I wore that VHS out you featured. In 1970 I saw Airto with Miles at the Isle of Wight and even with 600,000 people there I wormed my way to the front of the stage to see a once in a lifetime band. Nice video Jordan, thank you. I guess I better subscribe: :)

[@xanblacq]

Love Airto. Thank you!

[@JordanFerguson]

He’s the best!💙

[@trevorjoseph8390]

Met Airto & Flora at Ronnie Scott's in London, two of the most amzaing artists you can ever meet. It's very true about the energy and playing with musicians. ❤

[@paultjader8699]

Saw and met Airto and Flora, 5 times, superb at their height

[@mancuniancandidatem]

I got to see Fourth World around 1999/2000 time. An amazing experience. Airto almost blurs the line between musician and magician. He makes other worldy sounds. He made the pandero sound like an entire samba section. Had the whole club rocking just on his own with pandero and voice. Flora as well as the rest of the band were incredible. I absolutely love his voice as well as his drumming and percussion. Really, they are unseperable elements of his musicianship. I was lucky enough whilst living in San Francisco to play with some of his musicians on occasion, but unfortunately never got to meet Airto.

[@JordanFerguson]

Totally - that fusion between musician and magician is such an accurate description!

[@geoffreyhiller1425]

Thanks so much for this. I met Flora and Airto at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco in 1973. I heard them rehearsing 500 Miles high and drifted into the club. Long story short - we began talking and arranged for me to photograph them the following day. During lunch Airto told me stories about Bahia Brazil. I was inspired to visit Brazil the following year because of that conversation and ended up living in Rio for two years. The rest is history thanks to that conversation with Airto and Flora🙏

[@JordanFerguson]

What a beautiful story! :)

[@nylesfrench3568]

Airto is a musical "Genius" and percussive Master. He's also a Musically creative Wildman 😊. I saw him play several times in New back in the day of the 70s onward when he came here.

[@matheuskerr9222]

Congratulations for the wonderful video, Jordan. I am Brazilian but come from the Kerr family, so you can imagine my surprise to find out you're from Glasgow and specialized in Brazilian music. Airto's run and that whole scene in the 70s made some really amazing sounds. There are some other Brazilian percussionists that would greatly benefit from a video such as this one. The first recommendation has to be Naná Vasconcelos.

[@JordanFerguson]

thank you so much Matheus! Thats a crazy connection!! love that sort of thing!! :) I appreciate the kind words, I'm currently working on a video about Naná, theres a lot more video material about him to go through but it's good practice for my Portuguese translation skills haha

[@oldclip70]

You can thank CTI (Creed Taylor Records) for Airto. Deodato and him was my first exposure to Brazilian music. Cannonball with George Duke helped Airto to black jazz fusion musicians. But it was Airto that influenced Duke so much, that Duke produced his Masterpiece “A Brazilian Love Affair.” Thank you for sharing this.

[@michaelmuncy3593]

Yes, I was a big fan of the CTI productions back in the seventies. Airto contributed so much to those recordings! Still love and listen to his solo LP "Free".

[@dyrldouglas2087]

I loved his music, and his wife, Flora Purim. His work with George Duke is legendary.

[@STUFLYS]

During a Flora and Airto concert he once entertained me for 15 minutes with just a tambourine. Not for one nanosecond was I distracted or bored, 15 MINUTES. My vinyl collection would be severely depleted were I to remove all the records he contributed to.

[@mogulmeister]

Thanks so much for this Jordan. I was never less than blown away when he, Flora and his daughter (Diana) played at Ronnie Scott’s in London. Jose Neto on guitar. Awesome musician and amazing band 4th World. Thank you sir!

[@sykorabsurd]

I climbed the hill below the Griffith Park Observatory to sneak around the tree-lined, dusty back fence of L.A.'s Greek Theater (an amphitheater) to see the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star International Orchestra. Each member was from a different country & would take an a cappella solo at some point in the evening. Guess who represented Brazil? Airto walked to the center of the large, wide stage with just a tambourine. He chanted & played (one 6 beat pattern particularly blew my mind) his heart out. I was hundreds of meters away & not able to see his face but felt the wonder full power & the flowing skoot doot doodlee.

[@JordanFerguson]

what an epic story!!!

[@michaelmuncy3593]

I had a similar experience back in the eighties. I was attending the Bumbershoot festival (in Seattle Washington, US). At one point I was walking around the grounds and came upon Airto standing alone under a tree playing a tambourine. It was truly unreal. Sat not more than 10 feet from one of my musical idles. There weren't more than 20 people watching him and I couldn't help but wonder how many people knew who they were watching. Just another busker to most, maybe. Saw him later in the day with a full band which was great, but I'll never forget that moment seeing him solo under that tree.

[@onoyudont]

Airto , IS the rainforest.

[@n8w8rem22]

One of the best of the best drummer 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟👍🏼

[@JordanFerguson]

100% agree ✨

[@elmolewis9123]

Very nice video on a truly remarkable musician and man.

[@curiousnomad]

I saw Airto and Flora perform during their peak period. It was incredible! Those albums still hold up as masterpieces of that era.

[@JordanFerguson]

I’m so jealous! I would’ve loved to have seen them live! I agree about the albums.

[@jfmax2000]

Oh Yessir.... One Of The Best to Ever Do it Hands Down ☺☺😎👊💯💯

[@joaocalladomusico]

Great video! Airto is living today at the Retiro dos Artistas (Artists' Retreat) at the same street I live. The only thing I'd add, is that São Paulo is the economical centre of Brazil and a city full of culture and music, but Rio de Janeiro is our cultural centre.

[@JordanFerguson]

Valeu! Thats good to know about Airto! In a lot of ways Rio totally is the cultural centre - won't argue for a second that it isn't one of the most important cultural cities in the country. Com tudo respeito - the point I'd make, is that the scale of culture in Sampa is much larger. Which is Inherently down to the fact that theres more money and people there. For example, since 2018, the carnaval has received investment in SP than in Rio and drew in more internal tourism (with Salvador being the most popular carnaval destination for brasileirxs) We could probably discuss for years where the true cultural capital is - as we've not even mentioned Salvador or Recife yet 🫣

[@joaocalladomusico]

@@JordanFerguson Yes, you have a point. And São Paulo is a place with more Jazz and Brazilian Jazz nusic than Rio. Thanks for sharing our music!

[@pikerflinn]

One of my favourites - going back many years too. Seen him a few times, just magic. Sad to hear he’s not well, if that is still the case. Thanks for this!

[@giordanopagotto7940]

It is beautiful to see your passion for Brazilian music, and also that you mentioned the way to help Airto at this complicated moment.

[@JordanFerguson]

Thank you so much! I’m glad my passion comes across ☺️✨ Yeah it only felt right once I discovered how unwell he was to talk about it. I’ve gained so much from his art it feels like a small token of gratitude if even one person sees this and donates 💙

[@grom72]

Thanks for making this video! I wanted to recommend the album 'The Other Side of This' that Airto made with Mickey Hart in the early 1990s. Along with those VHS tapes, this album was a real revelation. Thank you again.

[@sparrowroberts]

Thank you Jordan! This was great! And thank you for letting us know that Airto is unwell, I wasn't aware of this. I saw him some years ago here in Salvador and he was in great form! He was my royalty client many years ago! Which, frankly speaking and business aside, was a thrill for me! I was, and am, a fan!

[@JordanFerguson]

No worries at all, I wanted to make the video and found it out during the research. What a cool experience to have seen him! I wish I could have. It must be fun to work in royalties and see the names of artists you admire popping up!☺️

[@sparrowroberts]

@@JordanFerguson My royalty work is in the past, but just for the fun of it: Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Led Zeppelin, Mongo Santamaria, Gilberto Gil, Astrud Gilberto, Philip Glass, Jim Hall, Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam now), Wah Wah Watson (Melvin Ragin), Robb Royer from Bread, Clement Dodd for Bob Marley compositions, of which I'm very proud...I got reggae history from one of the men who made it, along with a bunch of great 45s from Studio One from back in the days before Bob even had dreads. Earl "Speedo" Carroll from The Cadillacs, and Jake and Zeke Carey from The Flamingos... Chess producer Norman Dayron (Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf), Richie Havens...others...

[@intuneorange]

He is on almost every good CTI Record

[@reidwhitton6248]

Thanks! I'm a huge fan of Flora and Airto. I met Airto in the early 2000s. He is a warm and gracious man. Long live this wonderful musical duo.

[@michaelwendell7771]

I saw Airto in the 70's, he had two ten foot folding tables end to end filled with all kinds of stuff !! You could see him running back and forth shaking banging and throwing stuff up in the air, he was a show in himself !! GREATEST PERCCUCIONISTA EN EL MUNDO !!! Saw him with Return to Forever🥁😉

[@goldthredz]

Love this type of video and it was well presented! My only wish is that it was longer and even more in depth. Thank you. Airto also played on the great album Prelude by Deodato. Cheers

[@JordanFerguson]

I'm glad you liked it so much! Yeah it's funny to strike the balance on video length, as even for this one the average view duration is only 5 minutes. I linked one of the interviews I took as a source in the description which is over an hour and is a great watch/listen.

[@decogontijo]

what an amazing video! one of the greatest recommendations youtube gave me! as a brazillian guitarrist i can say u were very accurate describing our musical scene and rythms keep it up

[@JordanFerguson]

Thank you so much- I’m really glad you liked it!🫶🏻 Abraços!!

[@bigfootpegrande]

You forgot Hermeto Pascoal on you list in the beginning.

[@JordanFerguson]

obrigado pelo comentário🫶🏻

[@JordanFerguson]

Se eu dissesse que todos os artistas com quem o Airto tocou no início ficaríamos aqui por horas rs😅 só mencionei *alguns* os mais conhecidos internacionalmente ☺️

[@bmuhamad]

Thank you very much for the awareness. Peace & Wellness.

[@wendelynmusic]

I saw him live with Flora Purim back in the either the 80's or 90's can't remember for sure. they were awesome. I heard his album Fingers on the radio. back then, the local station had a weekly album hour where they played a full album and that's where I heard Airto. I have been a big fan ever since then.

[@teelurizzo8542]

Cool video, Airto is a unique percussionist/drummer. PS: 0:04 - The band on that picture is actually Earth Wind and Fire.

[@JordanFerguson]

Yeah someone else pointed that out - total brain fart moment!

[@woodsonpayne8378]

Amazing percussionist. Saw him live in Texas and live in Los Angeles during the 80s. Also Flora and Raul De Souza(trombone).

[@decogontijo]

this deserves way more views

[@bmuhamad]

Thanks Jordan. I first heard Airto in the early '70's with Miles Davis. I was sooo impressed, and I wanted to play like that. I started making instruments out of glass jars and beans, until I found that glass jars would break. After that, I started buying instruments. The large Afuche cabassa by LP, was my first reall instrument, that I bought, outside of a conga, that I had bought from a pawn shop. This was 1969. I was just started High School. Shortly after, I joined my High school buddy, who also played flute. He is always my favorite percussionist, until I heard Big Black, who played congas with High Masekela. The Emancipation of Hugh Masekela. He is my percussion Hero. Textures and colors, are most important. Thanks again. Peace and Be well.

[@JordanFerguson]

That’s such an amazing story! I similarly want to play like airto when I grow up. I’ve been meaning to get into instrument making (beyond shakers out of Pringles tubes and lentils) but good to know I should rule out glass jars 🫣😅 I’ll look into Big Black, the name rings a bell but right now I can’t think of what he sounds like!

[@bmuhamad]

@@JordanFerguson Big Black, who played congas with High Masekela. The Emancipation of Hugh Masekela. Hugh Masekela - Still Grazing Hugh Masekela - Still Grazing album cover More images Genre: Jazz Style: Afro-Cuban Jazz Year: 2005.

[@bmuhamad]

@@JordanFerguson I still perform. I live in Southern California. I still collect and buy instruments. I still listen to Miles & Cannonball. maybe, most don't know or remember...☺ Thank you for posting.

[@freeto9139]

Thanks, young man! You have a new suscriber. Seeing you embrace this music that I grew up with and still prefer to most other genras ... Haven't seen him since the mid '90's (with Flora); saw Sergio Mendes and Brasil '99 inn '99. I close my eyes and I'm still there. Same thing from when I was a teenager and hearing these sounds for the first time as their various albums were released. Music makes time last!

[@JackJenningsGuitarist]

Thank you for so much for making this video he's such an inspiration and incredible artist. I've just donated to his funding page thanks so much for raising more awareness about this.❤

[@JordanFerguson]

Thats amazing to hear you've donated! honestly for me this video was a win even if one epic person (like you) :) Glad you liked the video!!

[@JackJenningsGuitarist]

@JordanFerguson thank you again Jordan I just watched the clinic video of his as well. I've loved his playing for years since watching the live at Isle of Wight video of Miles Davis back in 2006 when it was first released in full. Airto brings so much to the music on so many levels. Keep up the great work Jordan. ✨️

[@hoagyguitarmichael]

Thanks for exposing people to this genius. I was lucky enough to see him play with the Fingers band at The Bottom Line in NYC. He did a 15 minute tambourine solo that blew my mind. This was the 70s and a great time for Brazilian jazz in New York. There was a little bar down the block from me in the East Village that featured a band every Thursday and Friday. The band was fronted by Amaury Tristao, along with Guilherme Franco on percussion, Dom Um Ramao on piano, and, wait for it... Charlie Rouse from Monk's band on sax. Great times.

[@JordanFerguson]

Wow sounds incredible! What time and place to be!✨

[@davidlopez-white3185]

Great to hear this master musician's story! Thanks for sharing, and for letting us know about his health and how to contribute ;)

[@JordanFerguson]

I'm glad you liked the video! :)

[@MattLeGroulx]

Great stuff, Jordan!

[@JordanFerguson]

Thank you so much Matt!☺️

[@jasper2point0]

Thank you so much for that video, that was wonderful, insight and re-ignited my passion for playing percussion after years of drum kit. Donating now to the gofundme, thank you for bringing awareness to this and again, thank you for a wonderful video of one of my musical heroes.

[@JordanFerguson]

So glad you enjoyed it!💙

[@condocord7544]

excellent

[@nealbrooks9827]

THANKS!

[@TimoVERSION]

Thanks for sharing. A wonderful musician who really made percussion a viable role (hence his venerable status), and less celebrated, a personality-uniquely or Brazilian or both-which is a credit to the human race. I credit Deodato live with my first glimmer of 'world music'; it was instructive to understand not just the inclusion of percussions and beats, but the infusion of the CULTURE into rock/jazz/whatever , as a normal, obvious, welcome strand, putting both MPB and Kraftwerk on my radar as a result. As for Airto, the ending suite on the original album is all the church I ever really needed.

[@WilliamSaadGuitar]

Thank you!

[@JordanFerguson]

Cheers William!

[@benzminibusdoc]

One highlight of his vast discography I want mentioned is: I'm fine, how are you?' with Jaco Pastorius on bass

[@wespinolaster]

Muito bom ! Congratulations ...hello from Geneva ! Washington Espinola Musician ( from Brazil) WE

[@JordanFerguson]

Muito obrigado!💙

[@paolaginelli5277]

Hi Jordan, please can you tell the name of the track in the intro ? Great video !!!! Thanks !!!!

[@JordanFerguson]

Thank you so much! It's an Airto track called "Earthquake" but the live version he did for the clinic which is linked in the description, it's from about half way through that first video :)

[@uriahheep5665]

Love this man! Bird calls for percussion. Return to Forever!💞

[@jonathanedwards8696]

Great video! Have you done a piece on Nana Vasconcelos? I saw Airto at The Berklee College of Music with his wife, Flora and their band. I've seen Nana many times with my favorite sax player: Norwegian Jan Garbarek.

[@JordanFerguson]

Not yet, this is my first time doing a video like it but Nana is 100% on the list of people to cover!

[@saddoggiedad]

Berklee in about 1977? I was at the 1st show of the "Open Your Eyes..." album tour. They were running late (from Philly) the night before, complaints of no sound check, and Hermeto pushed his keyboard over. I was with friends in the front and we had flowers for Flora. We all will forever remember her, "You guys.. I love you."

[@ftlpope]

The Tombo melody was probably written by Hugo Fattoroso, the keyboard player from Opa.

[@JordanFerguson]

That’s interesting, Ive never heard that before. I’ve got that album on CD and the only song credits are Airto. I don’t imagine that Fattoroso (or indeed his label) would’ve been so forgiving for all these years, especially after the explosion of samba de janeiro as there would be a fair chunk of change in it for them to be on the credits. Maybe you’re right? But everything I’ve seen (including statements from Airto’s publishing) suggests he is the sole composer of that music. I guess we’d need to sit the guys down and ask them about it to see if Fattoroso had a hand in any of it. Thanks for the comment!🫶🏻

[@neilloughran4437]

@@JordanFerguson it's true. I believe Airto wrote the 7/4 section and Hugo the famous melodic 4/4 part.... Hugo was ripped off... he's been on Uruguayan TV many times talking about it for the last 20-25 years. I guess it all sort of kicked off when the melody was sampled for house/dance music tunes and also licensed for the World Cup... It is definitely something that would have come from Hugo... Hugo is a very down to earth, low drama kind of guy and probably had never thought about it until the modern era...

[@JordanFerguson]

Is it a rip off if one willingly contributes to an artist's record? I'm asking from genuine curiosity, I'd understand if it were a plagiarism/copyright issue, but Fattoroso being in Airto's band and offering something up knowing full well that it's the band of a specific artist rather than a collaborative band project makes me wonder whether 'ripped off' is a strong statement. From my own experience, it's fairly standard practice in the industry that when you're playing in someone's band, master royalties are split *or* you get a fee for your work. If your contribution is the thing that is most memorable from the song then thats cool, but there isn't really a 'reward' for that. Apart from maybe your own personal pride? Even in bands - the default wasn't to include the drummer in the royalty split because they've not written anything copyrightable (as you can't own grooves) but it's hard to argue that any song would be the same without it's drum part. Appreciate y'all educating me on the likelihood of the hook being written by Fattoroso. Again, I imagine we'd need *both* of them to say something on it to know for certain. either way, it's a great record they created :)

[@neilloughran4437]

@@JordanFerguson I looked a bit more into this... you can check the video "Samba de Janeiro Gate" and put the subtitiles on. Some naivety from Hugo I guess.... especially as he used the theme on the first OPA LP(from 1976) and even that was credited to Airto (and produced by him). I guess he had no issues until it because famous 30 years later and then money became involved...

[@bigfootpegrande]

10:06 Your Portuguese is quiet good on 'Quarteto Novo', so please allow me to help you it's pronounced "Ehrmetoo Pas-coh-all"

[@JordanFerguson]

obrigado pelo comentário🫶🏻

[@sparrowroberts]

E aí bigfootpegrande! I stay away from Twitter/X these days so haven't heard from you! And out of the blue (tudo azul!) aqui vc está! Maravilha!

[@bigfootpegrande]

@@sparrowroberts Hello there! Good to see you, that's two of us. No one want to play in a spoiled kid's playground! Cheers.

[@Zepster77]

His version of 2001: A Space Odyssey was and will always be the absolute hippest ever

[@zuckerinternational7087]

So y does the video feature u, almost exclusively & not his music?…

[@pedroccastello]

❤❤❤

[@JordanFerguson]

Thank you so much!🫶🏻💙

[@jsamc]

Santana's Borboletta. He torn it up on Promises of a Fisherman.

[@headbandbybrianlundeen3132]

Airto!

[@tsfragile]

Showing a picture of Earth Wind and Fire as Weather Report gives me pause regarding your credibility. nevertheless, I love Airto and I appreciated this video.

[@JordanFerguson]

Hey Tom, I've responded to this in a few other comments - total brain fart moment in the last moments of editing. Glad you liked it anyways

[@JordanFerguson]

I appreciate your comment - also really love your work on Spyro Gyra :)

[@saxovox]

Airto is an amazing musician and beautiful soulful person. He was absolutely gracious and supportive to me the night I filled in for Joe Farrell (who was dying in a hospital that night). Somehow he made the night fun and exciting though Flora was understandably subdued. From the first time I heard Flo’ and ‘To at the Monterey Jazz Festival (“Eye-Ear-Toe”) I’ve been captivated by their passion, energy and playfulness. Their legacy in Brazilian and Jazz music is unique and inspiring. My brief association will always be cherished.

[@JordanFerguson]

Woah that must've been a crazy experience to fill in for Joe!!

[@yanislebbad8259]

Great stuff. But Weather Report and Earth, Wind & Fire are not the same group :p

[@JordanFerguson]

Damn I didn’t even notice I did that 😂😭 at least he played with both haha

[@intuneorange]

His dad was a currandero!

[@JordanFerguson]

yup, and he had a barbershop. Airto talks about it in the interview I've linked in the description :)

[@intuneorange]

Joe Lavano 's father was Jim Halls Barber​@@JordanFerguson

[@intuneorange]

Eye Ear Toe.

[@randyclere2330]

Thank you for this… he’s had such a beautiful life & touched so many people…