Laurindo Almeida

Born 1917-09-02 · Miracatu, São Paulo, Brazil

Died 1995-07-26

Laurindo Almeida (September 2, 1917 – July 26, 1995) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer in classical, jazz, and Latin music. He and Bud Shank were pioneers in the creation of bossa nova. Almeida was the first guitarist to receive Grammy Awards for both classical and jazz performances. His discography encompasses more than a hundred recordings over five decades. In addition to his recording achievements, Almeida continued his work with the film studios throughout his career, playing guitar, lute, mandolin and other instruments for more than 800 motion picture and television soundtracks (such as The High Chaparral and "The Gift," an episode of The Twilight Zone). Almeida made cameo appearances in the 1954 movie A Star is Born and on a 1959 episode of Peter Gunn titled "Skin Deep". His performing credits included major motion pictures such as Good-bye, My Lady (1956), Funny Girl (1968), and The Godfather (1972). He composed the complete film scores for ten motion pictures and portions for hundreds of others, including Charles and Ray Eames's 1957 film Day of the Dead.[6] He also underscored and performed for Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992). His final film work was in The Cat in the Hat (2003) in which his whistling cover of "The Girl from Ipanema" is briefly heard. Some articles report Almeida won at least one Oscar award for film composition; however, while he was involved in films that were nominated, he did not receive an Oscar for his film work. (from Wikipedia)