Milton Nascimento

Milton Nascimento
Nascimento in 1972
Background information
Also known as	Bituca
Born	(1942-10-26) October 26, 1942 (age 81) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Origin	Três Pontas, Minas Gerais, Brazil[1]
Genres	MPB, pop rock, rock and roll, jazz
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, guitarist
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1962–2022
Labels	Warner Music Brazil Universal Music Brazil Sony Music Brazil Philips, Mercury, CTI EMI Music Brazil Warner Bros. Records Blue Note/EMI Records Nonesuch/Elektra Records

Milton Silva Campos do Nascimento (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈmiwtõ ˈsiwvɐ ˈkɐ̃pus du nasiˈmẽtu]; born October 26, 1942),^[2] also known as Bituca,^[3] is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

Nascimento has won five Grammy Awards, including Best World Music Album for his album Nascimento in 1998.^[4]

Biography

Milton Nascimento was born in Rio de Janeiro.^[5] His mother, Maria Nascimento, was a maid. As a baby, Nascimento was adopted by a couple who were 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 the state of Minas Gerais.

When Nascimento was a child, he was nicknamed "Bituca" because he pouted when he was upset, which made him look like a native botocudo.^[3]

Nascimento was an occasional DJ on a radio station that his father once ran.^[6] He lived in the boroughs of Laranjeiras and Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro.

Clube da Esquina

In the early stages of his career, Nascimento played in two samba groups, Evolussamba and Sambacana. In 1963, he moved to Belo Horizonte, where his friendship with Lô Borges led to the Clube da Esquina ("street corner club") movement.^[7] Members included Beto Guedes, Toninho Horta, Wagner Tiso, and Flávio Venturini, with whom he shared compositions and melodies. One composition was "Canção do Sal", which was first covered by singer Elis Regina in 1966, and led to a television appearance with Nascimento.^[6] The collective, as well as some others, released Clube da Esquina in 1972. Several hit singles were also released.^[8]

Nascimento's compositions include songs such as "Nada Será Como Antes" ("Nothing Will Be As It Was"), "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 was killed by police officers 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 next year, and was also played at Ayrton Senna's funeral.

While his reputation within Brazil was firmly established with his Clube da Esquina works, Nascimento's international breakthrough came with his appearance on jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter's 1974 album Native Dancer.^[2] This 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 pop rock band Duran Duran in 1993. Nascimento co-wrote and performed the song "Breath After Breath", featured on the band's 1993 album Duran Duran.^[8] He also performed with the band in concert when they toured in Brazil in support of that album.

In 1996, Nascimento contributed the song "Dancing" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Rio, produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Ser Minas Tão Gerais

Nascimento starred in the 2002 musical theater piece Ser Minas Tão Gerais by the group Ponto de Partida.^[9][10] The piece paid homage to the poetry of Nascimento and Carlos Drummond de Andrade, two "iconic" poets from Minas Gerais.^[10]

In 2004, he worked with the Brazilian heavy metal band Angra, on the song "Late Redemption" from their album Temple of Shadows.^[11]

Discography

Compilations

• 2000: Oratório
• 2004: Maria Maria / Ultimo Trem^[12]

Academic title

• Honorary doctorate of music, awarded by the Berklee College of Music.^[13]

References

Sources

• Motta, Nelson (2001). Noites Tropicais (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Objetiva. ISBN 85-7302-292-2.
• Dolores, Maria. (2006). Travessia: A Vida De Milton Nascimento (in Portuguese). RCB.
• Mei, Giancarlo (2004). Canto Latino: Origine, Evoluzione e Protagonisti della Musica Popolare del Brasile. Preface by Sergio Bardotti; Afterword by Milton Nascimento. Viterbo, Italy: Stampa Alternativa-Nuovi Equilibri.
• McGowan, Chris; Pessanha, Ricardo (1998). The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press. ISBN 1-56639-545-3.
• Perrone, Charles A. Masters of Contemporary Brazilian Song: MPB 1965-1985. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1989. Chapter 4.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Milton Nascimento.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Milton Nascimento.

• Milton Nascimento – official website
• Milton Nascimento discography at Discogs
• Interview with Milton Nascimento, 1988 (in Portuguese)
• Milton Nascimento: 12 Essential Performances by Ted Gioia (jazz.com)