Almir de Souza Serra (12 July 1946 – 5 May 2017), better known by his stage name Almir Guineto, was a Brazilian sambista, singer and songwriter and instrumentalist, working in the genres of

samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

and

pagode Pagode () is a Brazilian style of music that originated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a subgenre of Samba. Pagode originally meant a celebration with food, music, dance, and party. In 1978, singer Beth Carvalho was introduced to this music, like ...

Biography

Guineto was director of the

samba school A samba school ( pt, Escola de samba) is a dancing, marching, and drumming (Samba Enredo) club. They practice and often perform in a huge square-Compound (enclosure), compounds ("quadras de samba") and are devoted to practicing and exhibiting sam ...

Salgueiro, a founder of the

Fundo de Quintal Grupo Fundo de Quintal or simply Fundo de Quintal (''Backyard Group'', roughly) is a Brazilian Samba band formed in Rio de Janeiro at the end of the 1970s. History The founding members of Fundo de Quintal, Almir Guineto (banjo/ cavaco), Bira Pre ...

samba group, and integrated the Originais do Samba group for 10 years before leaving for a solo career. Born on the Salgueiro hills in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in a family of musicians, he is credited as the man who introduced the

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

to samba, and is recognized as one of the main fathers of

. Guineto first knew success when his partido "Mordomia" won the first prize in the 1981 MPB-Shell festival. A frequenter of the Cacique de Ramos ''roda de samba'', he took part in the first record of

, but by the time of their second album he had already left the group to guide his talent through solo career. At the start of his career, his famous song "Saco Cheio" (''Everything that is made on earth/God's name is thrown in the midst/God must be pissed off'') came to raise protests from Rio de Janeiro's archbishop, D. Eugênio Sales. Besides being very famous as a performer, Almir enjoys a lot of recognition as a songwriter, with many songs recorded by artists such as

Beth Carvalho Elizabeth Santos Leal de Carvalho (May 5, 1946 – April 30, 2019), known professionally as Beth Carvalho, was a Brazilian samba singer, guitarist, cavaquinist and composer. Biography Carvalho was raised in a middle-class family in Rio de ...

, who considers him one of her favourite song sources,

Zeca Pagodinho Jessé Gomes da Silva Filho, known professionally as Zeca Pagodinho (, born February 4, 1959), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter working in the genres of samba and pagode. Biography Born in the neighborhood of Irajá, Rio de Janeiro, Zeca Pagodin ...

Dorina Dorina is a feminine given name, related to Dora, which in Latin and Greek means "gift" or "gift of God". People * Dorina Böczögő (born 1992), Hungarian gymnast * Dorina Emilia Carbune (born 1985), Romanian handball player * Dorina Catineanu ...

and others. Almir is regarded as an artist of the ''povão'', for the big masses know his hits very well. His songs are the most sung-along in parties and reunions where samba is played on account of their popularity. Guineto has over 12 records edited in Brazil, the first one being ''O Suburbano'', from 1981. His records have a particular samba sound that became trademarked as Almir's, frequently with strong use of the banjo, and with

Mauro Diniz Mauro Diniz (born 1952) is a Brazilian professional cavaquinist. He also has a career as a songwriter and singer. Biography Born in 1952 in one of the most traditional neighborhoods of carioca samba, Oswaldo Cruz, at the age of 4 he stayed between ...

often being responsible for the

cavaquinho The cavaquinho (pronounced in Portuguese) is a small Portuguese string instrument in the European guitar family, with four wires or gut strings. More broadly, ''cavaquinho'' is the name of a four-stringed subdivision of the lute family of instr ...

. His potent, raucous voice is another trademark, which some call a "force of nature". Among his greatest hits are the songs "Conselho", "Insensato Destino", "Rendição", "Pedi ao Céu" and "É, Pois É", the last two even more famous in the voice of Beth Carvalho. One of his most important records is the self-titled ''Almir Guineto'' from 1986, which opens with the afro-inspired "Caxambú". "Mãos" is one of his greatest hits in Zeca's voice. Guineto was very respected in Brazil as one of the most important sambistas. He died on 5 May 2017 in Rio de Janeiro due to diabetes and kidney problems.

Discography

* ''Todos os Pagodes'' (2001) * ''Almir Guineto'' (1999) * ''Pés'' (1997) * ''Acima de Deus, só Deus'' (1995) * ''Pele de Chocolate'' (1993) * ''De Bem com a Vida'' (1991) * ''Jeito de Amar'' (1989) * ''Olhos da Vida'' (1988) * ''Perfume de Champagne'' (1987) * ''Almir Guineto'' (1986) * ''Sorriso Novo'' (1985) * ''A Chave do Perdão'' (1982) * ''O Suburbano'' (1981)

References

External links

SóSamba

Cliquemusic

Cliquemusic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guineto, Almir 1946 births 2017 deaths People from Rio de Janeiro (city)

Almir Guineto Almir de Souza Serra (12 July 1946 – 5 May 2017), better known by his stage name Almir Guineto, was a Brazilian sambista, singer and songwriter and instrumentalist, working in the genres of samba and pagode. Biography Guineto was director of ...

20th-century Brazilian male singers 20th-century Brazilian singers Deaths from kidney disease Deaths from diabetes Brazilian banjoists