Pedro Abrunhosa - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Pedro Abrunhosa is a Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

singer, musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

and songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

. Aside from his music, he is known for always wearing sunglasses

Sunglasses

Sunglasses or sun glasses are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can sometimes also function as a visual aid, as variously termed spectacles or glasses exist, featuring lenses that...

in public. Abrunhosa also played himself in the 1999

1999 in film

The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...

film La Lettre
The Letter (1999 film)
The Letter is a 1999 French-Portuguese drama film directed by Manoel de Oliveira. It tells the story of a married woman who has feelings for another man, and who confesses her feelings to her friend, a cloistered nun...

. He is an active spokesman for the Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa

Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa

The Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa is currently the only recording industry association in Portugal. Created in 1989, it succeeded GPPFV and UNEVA ....

regarding Copyright infringement

Copyright infringement of audio-visual works, often referred to as piracy or warez, occurs when unauthorized copies are made of music, movies and similar works. Incidence of copyright infringement has grown dramatically since the late 1970s, as technology has facilitated the unauthorized...

on the Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

Biography

Abrunhosa was born in Porto

Porto

Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

, Portugal

Portugal

. After studying at the Ruvina Music School, in 1972 he began his musical studies at the Music School of Porto

Porto

, under the guidance of Professors Álvaro Salazar and Jorge Peixinho, in the subjects of Analysis, Composition, and History of Music, having already initiated his studies in the double bass

Double bass

The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

. (He has often been approached by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is a Portuguese private foundation of public utility whose statutory aims are in the fields of arts, charity, education, and science...

to attend and participate in the Meetings of Contemporary Music in that same institution.)

Once admitted into the "Conservatório de Música do Porto", he studied musical composition

Musical composition

Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...

under the direction of Professor Cândido Lima. At that time, he was invited to take part in the Madrid Contemporary Music Group, under the direction of Spanish

Spanish people

The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

composer Enrique X. Macias. This afforded him the opportunity to take part in a series of shows performed in Portugal and Spain. In 1981, he received a diploma for the Courses of Musical Pedagogy

Pedagogy

Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....

from Polish

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

Professor Jos Wuytack.

In 1984, he went to Madrid to study with double-bass player Todd Coolman

Todd Coolman

Todd Coolman is a jazz bassist residing near New York City.Since moving to New York in 1978, he has performed with Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Lionel Hampton and Benny Goodman. Coolman recently recorded “Lexicon”...

and with musicians Joe Hunt, Wallace Rooney, Gerry Nyewood and Steve Brown

Steve Brown (musician)

Steve Brown is a jazz guitarist, composer, arranger, and educator. He was the Director of Jazz Studies at Ithaca College, a position he held for 40 years until his retirement in 2008...

. In that same year, he finished the General Course of Composition in the “Conservatório de Música do Porto” and started studying double-bass with Alejandro Erlich Oliva.

In 1985, returning to Spain, he took part in the International Jazz Seminar, and worked again with Todd Coolman, Billy Hart

Billy Hart

William "Billy" Hart is a jazz drummer and educator who has performed with some of the most important jazz musicians in history.-Biography:Early on Hart performed in Washington, D.C...

, Bill Dobbins, Dave Schnitter, Jack Walrath and Steve Brown

Steve Brown (musician)

Steve Brown is a jazz guitarist, composer, arranger, and educator. He was the Director of Jazz Studies at Ithaca College, a position he held for 40 years until his retirement in 2008...

. In that same year, together with Spanish

Spanish people

The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

guitar player Joaquin Iglesias, he founded the quartet

Quartet

In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...

“Banda de Bolso”.

In 1986, he returned to Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

to participate in the third International Jazz Seminar in Seville

Seville

Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

where he played with Bob Moses, Chip Jackson, Brad Hartfield, Hoku Kim and Stan Strickland

Stan Strickland

-Career:Strickland has performed internationally; been featured on recordings of Bob Moses, Marty Erlich, Webster Lewis and Brute Force; performed with notable jazz musicians Yusef Lateef, Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Mann, Danilo Perez, Shirley Scott and Marlena Shaw; and has opened for Miles Davis and...

. In Portugal, later that year, he participated in the Seminars of Direction and Interpretation of the Big Band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

. He was chosen as the double-bass player of the newly formed orchestra. He also participated in two other Jazz Seminars with Danish saxophonist John Tchicai

John Tchicai

John Martin Tchicai is a Danish jazz saxophonist. He was one of the earliest European free jazz musicians. He is of Danish and Congolese descent....

and bassist Peter Danstrup and the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

musicians Paul Motion, Bill Frisell

Bill Frisell

William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...

, and Joe Lovano

Joe Lovano

Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...

.

In 1987, he worked with David Liebman, Billy Hart

Billy Hart

William "Billy" Hart is a jazz drummer and educator who has performed with some of the most important jazz musicians in history.-Biography:Early on Hart performed in Washington, D.C...

, Ron Mclure and Richard Beirach in Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

. For one year, he taught double-bass at the Jazz School of Hot-Club in Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

. He also directed and produced the program “Até Jazz” in the “Rádio Clube do Porto”. Later on, he joined Boulou Ferré, Ramon Cardo, Frankie Rose, Vicent Penasse and Tommy Halferty and extensively toured Portugal and throughout Europe. Additionally, he joined the Teacher’s Quartet of Hot-Club of Portugal and Carlos Martin’s Quartet.

He composed and recorded the music for the films "Amour en Latin", directed by Serge Abramovic, "Adão e Eva" directed by Joaquim Leitão, and "Novo Mundo". He was awarded Best Soundtrack at the Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

Film Festival

Film festival

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

for the latter . He also composed the music for the theatrical pieces “Possessos de Amor”, “A Teia”, and “O Aniversário da Infanta” (Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...

). He composed the soundtrack

Soundtrack

A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...

to the video “150 Anos do Bonfim”.

He co-founded the Jazz School of Porto, where he taught Harmony, Auditive Training and Group Music, during three years. He assembled and has conducted the orchestra of the Jazz School of Porto, concomitantly, composing most of its arrangements.

He was a teacher at the Higher Arts School of Porto (Cine-Video area), where lectured on the Formation and Analysis of the Soundtrack and at the Caius Music School on Group Music and Musical Production.

He formed and directed the Cool Jazz Orchestra, a musical group essentially devoted to Rhythm & Blues. After three years of intense work it became "Pedro Abrunhosa e a Máquina do Som", performing original pieces, all of which were composed by Pedro Abrunhosa.

In 1994, with his new band, Bandemónio, he recorded his first album, Viagens for PolyGram

PolyGram

PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...

. There, he had the opportunity to collaborate with James Brown

James Brown

James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...

’s sax player - Maceo Parker

Maceo Parker

Maceo Parker is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, as well as Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of Brown's hit recordings, and a key part of his band, playing alto, tenor and baritone saxophones...

.

He attained triple platinum, a challenging achievement in the Portuguese market, with over 160,000 copies sold of “Viagens”, as well as performing over 120 concerts across Portugal

Portugal

, the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Macau

Macau

Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

, Spain

Spain

, Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, amongst others. It is estimated that he performed before a million spectators.

Under the band name "Pedro Abrunhosa e os Bandemónio", the album F was released. A book illustrating the adventures and trips of the group was also released. The book enjoyed the collaboration of two prestigious individuals in the literary and photographic worlds, respectively: Nuno Galopim and Kenton Thatcher. (www.kentonthatcher.com)

In December 1994, the American music magazine "Billboard" gave him front page billing, sparking the start of his international career.

In September 1996, he went to Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

and Minneapolis where he finished the final phase of mixing

Audio mixing (recorded music)

In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...

and mastering of his second album. It was recorded in Porto, Lisbon, Memphis, and Minneapolis. The final mixing process, as well as a substantial portion of the rhythm and voice recording were supervised by Tom Tucker, technical director of Paisley Park and chief engineer on Prince’s latest albums.

Supported by his label - PolyGram - he invited The New Power Generation Horns to collaborate on this album, formed by Kathy Jensen, Kenni Holmen, Michael Nelson, David Jensen, Steve Strand, Ricky Peterson and Paul Peterson (these last two being Prince’s keyboard

Electronic keyboard

An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...

player and bassist

Bassist

A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...

). He also collaborated with Ozzie Melendez (Tower of Power

Tower of Power

Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...

), Carlos do Carmo

Carlos do Carmo

Carlos do Carmo, ComIH is a Portuguese fado singer, one of the finest in the "Lisbon Song"...

, Opus Ensemble, and Rui Veloso

Rui Veloso

Rui Manuel Gaudêncio Veloso, commonly known as Rui Veloso, CavIH , is a Portuguese rock singer and musician. Regarded as the "father of Portuguese rock", this composer and interpreter had a great impact on the Portuguese music scene with the record Ar de Rock .Songs such as Chico Fininho and A...

. “Tempo” (“Time”), was launched at midnight on November 11, 1996. After its first week on the shelves, the album went double platinum

Double Platinum

Double Platinum is a 1999 musical telefilm starring Diana Ross and Brandy.-Plot:The story begins with a scene featuring star singer Olivia King leaving her daughter Kayla, who was an infant at the time. It is revealed that Kayla was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but in her later years, she would move...

with more than 200,000 copies sold in Portugal.

He started his new tour “Tempo Tour 97/98”, with concerts across Portugal, as well as in France

France

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, Brazil

Brazil

, and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.
In order to further the internationalization of his work, he went to Madrid

Madrid

, Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, and London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

to record some of “Tempo” tracks in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, and English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

.

In May of that same year, he returned to London, to film the video “No Way”, with the collaboration of Tony Vanden Ende.

He composed the music and authored the script for the musical “O Rapaz de Papel” (“The Paper Boy”), presented to the public in March 1998, integrated into “O Festival dos Cem Dias” (The Hundred Day Festival") and preceding the opening of Expo 98.

He produced the solo debut album by vocalist Diana Basto, Amanhecer (“Dawning”), published by PolyGram

PolyGram

. He was responsible for the lyrics and music. It was recorded together with Tom Tucker, and was mixed and mastered in Minneapolis and Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

.

He was invited by Caetano Veloso

Caetano Veloso

Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso , better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s,...

to integrate his show in Expo 98 that has, so far, broken all the booking-office records.

Invited by Expo 98, he performed his show at the Sony

Sony

, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

Plaza in September. It was the only performance from Portugal's Expo 98 which was broadcast all over the world.

He was later invited to participate in the Manuel de Oliveira film, “La Lettre” (“The Letter”), together with Chiara Mastroianni

Chiara Mastroianni

Chiara Charlotte Mastroianni is a French actress and singer.-Biography:Mastroianni was born in Paris, the daughter of Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni. Her elder half-brother is Christian Vadim; her elder half-sister is Barbara Mastroianni.She had relationships with the actors Benicio...

and Françoise Fabian, where he undertook the leading role. The film was awarded the Prix du Jury in the 1999 Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

.

He produced his third album of originals Silence, finished in November 1999, which includes the presence of Caetano Veloso

Caetano Veloso

’s percussionists, Nina Miranda

Nina Miranda

Nina Miranda is both a singer and songwriter who was part of the English group, Smoke City, and more recently, Shrift.Nina Miranda's father is Brazilian, her mother is English and she was born in Brazil, and educated in Brazil, England and France...

(of Smoke City

Smoke City

Smoke City were an English band, who blended acid jazz and trip hop, borrowing from Brazilian styles such as samba and bossa nova. They are best known for their single "Underwater Love", which was a major hit in 1997, after being used in a Levi's television advertisement, "Mermaids" .In 1997, the...

) and the strings section usually used by Radiohead

Radiohead

Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...

and dEUS.

He won four Blitz Awards: Record of the Year, Artist of the Year, Best Song, and Best Group. A Bordalo, an award given by the press; a Globo de Ouro ("Golden Globe") awarded for the song “Se Eu Fosse Um Dia O Teu Olhar”; and five Nova Era Radio awards, given by radio stations and institutions.

In 1999, he gave a number of lectures throughout Portugal, mostly in libraries, schools, and universities, on topics related to artistic production and creation, literature, music and cinema. Some of lectures were published.

In 2002, he performed two shows at the Cultural Center of Belém, after a one year hiatus. “Intimidade” was received favorably by the critics and public alike. The show, backed by IPAE, toured Portugal and proved to be an artistic and box-office success.

His latest album, Momento, was written and composed solely by him. It has the participation of the Helicon String Quartet. Manoel de Oliveira, the famous Portuguese director, directed the short film "Momento", as a video for the first single and title track off the album.

In Portugal, Momento reached double platinum, and was the most played album on radio. Pedro Abrunhosa released the album in Brazil through Universal

Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...

, with the participation of local artists such as Zélia Duncan, Lenine, Sandra de Sá, and Adriana Calcanhoto. (His songs are performed in Brazil by a number of artists such as Elba Ramalho, Zeca Baleiro

Zeca Baleiro

Zeca Baleiro is a Brazilian MPB artist. One of his most famous songs is "Salão de Beleza", which was featured on Putumayo World Music's Reggae Around the World compilation. Along with being a solo artist, he has also worked with guitarist Pedro Joia....

, Sandra Sá, and Rio Soul or Syang, among others.)

His first DVD, Intimidade went double platinum in just 2 weeks.

Currently, he is recording and preparing the release of his new album, along with a tour that will run through Portugal

Portugal

, Brazil

Brazil

, Italy

Italy

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

and Switzerland

Switzerland

. He is a standing board member of the Portuguese Authors Society.

Since April 12, 2010 his album "Longe" (meaning "Far away") is available in the stores, time when it was also released its latest website - http://www.abrunhosa.com/. The appearance of the site is modified according to the time of the day when you visit it, accompanied by sound effects adapted to time and place that the background images evoke. It was a project developed by two companies of Oporto (Portugal): Basepoint (Development) - http://www . basepoint.pt - and Campo Visual (Design) - http://www.campovisual.com -.

External links

Pedro Abrunhosa official website

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