The Jazz Organ Scene

Brazil

José Bertrami José Roberto Bertrami was born 1946 in Tatuí, a small city in the interior of São Paulo. Bertrami’s piano studies began at age seven. After two years, however, he turned to playing soccer. "I never studied, never knew a thing. But I always excelled at music", José said. But later, he got serious about school. José had already discovered jazz, particularly Bill Evans and Miles Davis. Once out of school, José was ready to start working. His own first job was at a club called Cancan, right next door to a hotel where 17-year-old bassist José Alves had a steady trio gig.   An important break for the young pianist came several years later, when he met a singer named Flora Purim at São Paulo’s João Sebastião Bar. He ended up joining the new band Flora was putting together with percussionist Airto Moreira and which also included trombonist Raul de Souza.   In 1967, Flora and Airto went off to New York, and José decided to move to Rio with his brother Claudio. They formed a trio with drummer Robertinho Silva, and spent the next eight months working at the Rio nightspot Canecão.   Among the other bands working at Canecão during this same period were a jazz/rock unit, whose drummer was Ivan Conti, now one-third of Azymuth. Bertrami and Ivan decided to put together their own trio (Azymuth). They found their bass player, Alex Malheiros, several weeks later as he was toiling away with a dance band in a bowling alley!   The first Azymuth album was actually a soundtrack for the film O fabuloso Fittipaldi, written and arranged by Bertrami and released in 1973. Limite do Horizonte followed in 1974 and Aguia não come mosca (“Eagles don’t eat flies”) in 1977. They toured frequently throughout and South America, and continued their studio work, playing on countless samba albums as well as film soundtracks and recordings by top Brazilian artists like Jorge Ben, Simone, and Gal Costa.   Azymuth performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977, and backed Flora Purim and Airto on their American tour the next year. José Bertrami passed away in 2012 in Rio de Janeiro.   courtesy of Concord Music Group

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