Walter Wanderley - Biography
By J Poet
Walter Wanderley was a Brazilian jazz and bossa nova organ player, an important musician in the waning days of bossa’s initial popularity in the late 60s. Since the 90s he’s been categorized as a lounge/easy listing artist, but in the 60s his innovative organ style made him a sought after session player in Brazil. His short bursts of staccato notes mimicked the folkloric rhythms and techniques of traditional Brazilian percussion and his solos eschewed the musical clichés of the day to explore the expansive aspects of the tunes he played.
Wanderley was born in Recife, Brazil in 1932. He was a natural musician and was playing piano by the age of five and attended the prestigious Licee of Arts in São Paulo to study music when he was 12. He took degrees in harmony and composition. After graduation in 1958 played regularly at the Boate Oásis and Captain's Bar. His first albums were jittery, high-energy affairs like Festa Dançante (1958 Odeon Brazil), Feito Sob Medida (1959 Odeon Brazil), Eu, Você E Walter Wanderley (1959 Odeon Brazil), Samba É Mais Samba Com Walter Wanderley (1962 Odeon Brazil), and Samba No Esquema (1962 Odeon Brazil, 2008 Blue Note) After his American success Capitol and other US labels reissued some of these under various titles including Walter Wanderley’s Brazilian Organ (1962 Capitol.)
In 1959 he married the singer Isaurinha Garcia and wrote many arrangements for her. He played organ on three of her albums Sempre Personalíssima (1959 Odeon Brazil), Atualíssima (1963 Odeon Brazil), and Sambas da Madrugada (1963 Odeon Brazil). He also played with the bossa legend Claudette Soares. leaving his wife to live with her. Wanderley’s unique organ style made him an in-demand session player, but he was a heavy drinker and often got into heated disagreements with other musicians.
Tony Bennett saw Wanderley play while he was touring Brazil in 1964 and was so impressed that he urged him to come to New York. Bennett introduced him to Verve producer Creed Taylor who signed Wanderley and his trio. Their first single, “Summer Samba”, Wanderley’s take on Astrud Gilberto’s Brazilian hit “Samba de Verão” (which he played on in Brazil) was a smash. The follow up album Rain Forest (1966 Verve) went platinum.
After Rain Forest (1966 Verve) he made five more albums with his trio for Verve including A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness (1966 Verve, 2001 Verve) featuring Astrud Gilberto, Batucada (1967 Verve), Chegança (1967 Verve), Popcorn (1967 Verve) with Luiz Henrique, and Kee Ka Roo (1967 Verve). Despite his American success, his music never caught on in Brazil, but he was making a good living touring American jazz clubs and venues in Mexico, Europe and Japan.
After leaving Verve, Wanderley ditched his sidemen and went solo. He followed Creed Taylor to his new label CTI and made When It Was Done (1968 CTI), a soft pop album arranged by Emuir Deodato and featuring a young background singer named Milton Nascimento, and Moondreams (1969 CTI.) The albums did well enough to bring him to the attention of the Holiday Inn motel chain. They offered him a chance to headline the lounges of their hotels in Mexico, Japan and the United States. His inaugural performance for the Holiday Inn group was at their flagship hotel near Fisherman’s Warf in San Francisco; by the second set he was drunk and playing poorly. After counting off the tempo for the first song of the third set, he collapsed at the organ, dead drunk. The Holiday inn contract vanished.
Wanderley stayed in San Francisco and concentrated on local gigs with a few sporadic Mexican tours. He made ten more albums for various labels in the US including The Return Of The Original Walter Wanderley Sound (1971 Canyon), Brazil's Greatest Hits! (1972 GNP, 1992 GNP), and Perpetual Motion Love (1981 GNP.) He lived in San Francisco until his death in 1986.
A Best Of, Pure Bossa Nova: A View on the Music of Walter Wanderley was released on Verve in 2008. Other compilations include the two disc Walter Wanderley Boss Of The Bossa Nova (1996 Motor Germany), Walter Wanderley Talkin’ Verve (1998 Verve) from the label’s Roots of Acid Jazz series, and Samba Swing (1996 Scamp), recordings from the 60s with his trio.Walter Wanderley was a Brazilian jazz and bossa nova organ player, an important musician in the waning days of bossa’s initial popularity in the late 60s. Since the 90s he’s been categorized as a lounge/easy listing artist, but in the 60s his innovative organ style made him a sought after session player in Brazil. His short bursts of staccato notes mimicked the folkloric rhythms and techniques of traditional Brazilian percussion and his solos eschewed the musical clichés of the day to explore the expansive aspects of the tunes he played.
Wanderley was born in Recife, Brazil in 1932. He was a natural musician and was playing piano by the age of five and attended the prestigious Licee of Arts in São Paulo to study music when he was 12. He took degrees in harmony and composition. After graduation in 1958 played regularly at the Boate Oásis and Captain's Bar. His first albums were jittery, high-energy affairs like Festa Dançante (1958 Odeon Brazil), Feito Sob Medida (1959 Odeon Brazil), Eu, Você E Walter Wanderley (1959 Odeon Brazil), Samba É Mais Samba Com Walter Wanderley (1962 Odeon Brazil), and Samba No Esquema (1962 Odeon Brazil, 2008 Blue Note) After his American success Capitol and other US labels reissued some of these under various titles including Walter Wanderley’s Brazilian Organ (1962 Capitol.)
In 1959 he married the singer Isaurinha Garcia and wrote many arrangements for her. He played organ on three of her albums Sempre Personalíssima (1959 Odeon Brazil), Atualíssima (1963 Odeon Brazil), and Sambas da Madrugada (1963 Odeon Brazil). He also played with the bossa legend Claudette Soares. leaving his wife to live with her. Wanderley’s unique organ style made him an in-demand session player, but he was a heavy drinker and often got into heated disagreements with other musicians.
Tony Bennett saw Wanderley play while he was touring Brazil in 1964 and was so impressed that he urged him to come to New York. Bennett introduced him to Verve producer Creed Taylor who signed Wanderley and his trio. Their first single, “Summer Samba”, Wanderley’s take on Astrud Gilberto’s Brazilian hit “Samba de Verão” (which he played on in Brazil) was a smash. The follow up album Rain Forest (1966 Verve) went platinum.
After Rain Forest (1966 Verve) he made five more albums with his trio for Verve including A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness (1966 Verve, 2001 Verve) featuring Astrud Gilberto, Batucada (1967 Verve), Chegança (1967 Verve), Popcorn (1967 Verve) with Luiz Henrique, and Kee Ka Roo (1967 Verve). Despite his American success, his music never caught on in Brazil, but he was making a good living touring American jazz clubs and venues in Mexico, Europe and Japan.
After leaving Verve, Wanderley ditched his sidemen and went solo. He followed Creed Taylor to his new label CTI and made When It Was Done (1968 CTI), a soft pop album arranged by Emuir Deodato and featuring a young background singer named Milton Nascimento, and Moondreams (1969 CTI.) The albums did well enough to bring him to the attention of the Holiday Inn motel chain. They offered him a chance to headline the lounges of their hotels in Mexico, Japan and the United States. His inaugural performance for the Holiday Inn group was at their flagship hotel near Fisherman’s Warf in San Francisco; by the second set he was drunk and playing poorly. After counting off the tempo for the first song of the third set, he collapsed at the organ, dead drunk. The Holiday inn contract vanished.
Wanderley stayed in San Francisco and concentrated on local gigs with a few sporadic Mexican tours. He made ten more albums for various labels in the US including The Return Of The Original Walter Wanderley Sound (1971 Canyon), Brazil's Greatest Hits! (1972 GNP, 1992 GNP), and Perpetual Motion Love (1981 GNP.) He lived in San Francisco until his death in 1986.
A Best Of, Pure Bossa Nova: A View on the Music of Walter Wanderley was released on Verve in 2008. Other compilations include the two disc Walter Wanderley Boss Of The Bossa Nova (1996 Motor Germany), Walter Wanderley Talkin’ Verve (1998 Verve) from the label’s Roots of Acid Jazz series, and Samba Swing (1996 Scamp), recordings from the 60s with his trio.
