by Alvaro NederEumir Deodato has participated as pianist/keyboardist, producer, or arranger in over 450 albums, and has won 16 platinum records. The list of top artists with whom he has collaborated is too extensive to cite, but includesTony Bennett,Frank Sinatra,Tom Jobim,Wes Montgomery,João Donato,Kool & the Gang(group with which he played between 1979 and 1983),Earth, Wind & Fire, andMichael Franks. He has also worked on the soundtracks of major films, likeThe Onion Field,The Exorcist, and many others. Artists who have recorded his compositions includeSarah Vaughan,Milt Jackson,Joe Pass,George Benson,Lee Ritenour,Perez Prado, andthe Emotions.At 12, Deodato started to learn the accordion. Two years later he began his studies on piano, orchestration, arrangement, and conducting, and started playing in dances and nightclubs. In 1959, he became a member ofRoberto Menescal's andDurval Ferreira's groups, playing bossa nova. His earliest compositions are from that period. In 1962 he formed his first group, which hadRoberto Menescalas a member. Leaving the group, Deodato started to write arrangements for Odeon as a freelancer, having worked in the earliest albums byWilson SimonalandMarcos Valle. In 1964 he did the arrangements and conduction of the LPInútil Paisagemand recorded the LPOs Gatos. WithOs Catedráticos, Deodato recorded the LPsImpulso! Samba(1964),Tremendão(1964), and Ataque, which contained his compositions "Ataque" and "Razão de Viver" (withPaulo Sérgio Valle). He was a member of the committee that selected the compositions to be presented in the earliest editions of the historic FIC (International Song Festival). Having selected three songs byMilton Nascimentofor the II FIC (1967), he is considered to having being responsible for the launching of the songwriter.In 1967 he moved to New York, NY, to write arrangements for theLuís Bonfáalbum withMaria Helena Toledo. When writing the arrangements forAstrud Gilberto'sBeach Samba, he became acquainted withCreed Taylor, who hired him to arrange for other CTI's artists, likeTony Bennett,Frank Sinatra,Roberta Flack,Paul Desmond,Tom Jobim,Walter Wanderley, andAretha Franklin. Deodato worked also in that period withRay Bryant. In 1969, he released the classic LPDonato/DeodatowithJoão Donato. His arrangement for "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (Richard Strauss), written in 1973, was included in the soundtrack ofStanley Kubrik's2001and on Deodato's albumPrelude, which sold five million copies, being awarded by Billboard, Cashbox, Record World, and Playboy magazines, also winning a Grammy in the Best Instrumental Pop/Rock performance. Having played at the Hollywood Bowl with theCTI All-Stars Band, he formed his own group that opened at New York's Madison Square in 1973. After many years touring, arranging, and producing intensively, and releasing many individual albums, Deodato worked withBjörk, arranging her albumsPost,Telegram, andHomogenic. Also in the 1990s, he worked with the Brazilian artistsGal Costa,Titãs(Vol. II), andCarlinhos Brown(Omelete Man). In 2000, Deodato wrote the arrangements for the soundtrack ofBruno Barreto's filmBossa Nova.