Flora Purim & Airto Moreira

I don’t know if there are any Flora & Airto fans reading here, but I wanted to mention them briefly.  For those unfamiliar, they are world famous Brazilian Jazz/Jazz Fusion artists (Flora is known as the Queen of Brazilian Jazz) and Airto is one of the world’s greatest percussionists (he’s worked with everyone from Miles Davis to Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum, and everyone in between).  Flora’s style is more Samba, Airto’s style more Spirit Drum (to be very very brief), so the two of them together offer a fascinating melting pot of styles - traditional tribal percussion to samba to fusion and back.  Well, I have to admit was completely unfamiliar with them until recently (I’m familiar with some Brazilian music, but I’m honestly not that big a fan of Jazz Fusion, so they were outside the realm of my very limited knowledge).  

I am now a huge fan of them as human beings.  :)  Last night, Flora and Airto (and their daughter Diana Booker, and her husband Krishna Booker, who perform in their own jazz-influenced trip-hop band Eyedentity) headlined a benefit concert for my agency.  These are warm, generous, gracious people.  They have fully embraced what we do at my agency and plan to spread the word to their friends in the business, opening doors for future concerts - people like Mickey Hart & Carlos Santana.  This is huge for us, huge for our clients, and represents an honest generosity of spirit.

If you’ve pondered giving a listen to Brazilian Jazz, please do start with Flora and Airto.  And Eyedentity (whose CD I snatched up as soon as I heard them perform last night) is a rhythmic blend of hip-hop & latin jazz.  Diana has an extraordinary voice - she brings to mind Nina Simone.  They are virtually self-managed, and deserving of wider attention - if what I’ve described holds even the slightest interest, please seek out their music & give it a listen.

Sac Bee coverage:  http://www.sacbee.com/172/story/116671.html

Airto’s website:  http://www.airto.com/

Eyedentity’s website:  http://www.eyedentitymusic.com/main.html