Milton Nascimento
*Milton Nascimento was born on this date in 1942. He is an Afro Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
Milton Nascimento was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His mother, Maria Nascimento, was a maid. As a baby, Nascimento was adopted by a couple of his mother's former employers: Josino Brito Campos, a bank employee, mathematics teacher, and electronic technician, and Lília Silva Campos, a music teacher and choir singer. When he was 18 months old, Nascimento's biological mother died, and he moved with his adoptive parents to the city of Três Pontas in Minas Gerais. Nascimento was a Disc Jockey on a radio station his father once ran. He lived in the Rio de Janeiro boroughs of Laranjeiras and Tijuca.
In the early stages of his career, Nascimento played in two samba groups. In 1963, he moved to Belo Horizonte, where his friendship with Lô Borges led to the Clube da Esquina ("street corner club") movement. One composition, "Canção do Sal," was first interpreted by singer Elis Regina in 1966 and led to a television appearance with Nascimento.
The collective, as well as some others, released Clube da Esquina in 1972. Several hit singles were also released. Nascimento's compositions include songs such as "Maria, Maria," "Canção da América" ("Song from America"/"Unencounter"), "Travessia" ("Bridges"), "Bailes da Vida," and "Coração de Estudante" ("Student's Heart"), a song about the funeral of Edson Luís, who police officers killed in 1968. The song became the hymn for the Diretas Já social-political campaign in 1984, was played at the funeral of President of Brazil Tancredo Neves the following year, and was played at Ayrton Senna's funeral.
While his reputation within Brazil was firmly established, Nascimento's international breakthrough came with his appearance on jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter's 1974 album Native Dancer. This recording led to widespread acclaim and collaborations with Paul Simon, Sarah Vaughan, Mercedes Sosa, Carlos Santana, Pablo Milanés, Cat Stevens, George Duke, Quincy Jones, and Earth, Wind, and Fire. Angelus (1994) features appearances by Pat Metheny, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJohnette, Nana Vasconcelos, Jon Anderson, James Taylor, and Peter Gabriel, among many others. Through his friendship with guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, Nascimento came to work with the band Duran Duran in 1993.
Nascimento co-wrote and performed the song "Breath After Breath ."He also performed with the band in concert when they toured Brazil to support that album. In 1996, Nascimento contributed the song "Dancing" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Rio. He has toured across the world. Nascimento has won five Grammy Awards, including Best World Music Album in 1997. In 2004, he worked with the Brazilian heavy metal band Angra on the song "Late Redemption" from their album Temple of Shadows.
