Laudir Soares de Oliveira (6 January 1940 – 17 September 2017) was a Brazilian musician and producer mostly renowned for his time as

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

with the band

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Oliveira grew up in Rio de Janeiro, and started working professionally in music in the 1960s, accompanying Brazilian musicians such as

Sérgio Mendes Sérgio Santos Mendes (; born February 11, 1941) is a Brazilian musician. His career took off with worldwide hits by his group Brasil '66. He has over 55 releases and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk. He was nominated for ...

and

Marcos Valle Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Nélson Marcos, Portugue ...

. In 1968 he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Credited simply as "Laudir", he also appeared on

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

's 1969 debut album, playing on his hit single " Feelin' Alright". In 1973, Oliveira was invited to play with

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on the band's sixth album. As

Robert Lamm Robert William Lamm (born October 13, 1944) is an American keyboardist, guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including " Questions 67 & 68", " Does ...

and

James Pankow James Carter Pankow is an American trombone player, songwriter and brass instrument player, best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. Early life, family and education Born in St. Louis, Missouri of German and Irish descent, Pa ...

recalled, "Laudir was an incredible percussionist. He was an incredible player. He came out of Sergio Mendes. At first we experimented with using percussion in the studio, and we liked the way the percussion held the tempos together so much that we decided to keep the percussion aspect part of the band. ...

Terry Kath Terry Alan Kath (January 31, 1946 – January 23, 1978) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He played guitar and sang lead vocals on many of the band's early hit singl ...

in particular felt the need for a percussionist to keep the grooves, the tempo steady". According to Chicago's drummer

Danny Seraphine Daniel Peter Seraphine (born August 28, 1948) is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer and film producer. He is best known as the original drummer and a founding member of the rock band Chicago, a tenure which lasted fr ...

, " audir's style and minefit together perfectly, creating a layered and full sound that reinforced the strong Latin influence that had been building in our music". After playing on the albums ''

Chicago VI ''Chicago VI'' is the fifth studio album (sixth overall) by American rock band Chicago and was released on June 25, 1973. It was the band's second in a string of five consecutive albums to make it to No. 1 in the US, was certified gold less th ...

'' and ''

Chicago VII ''Chicago VII'' is the sixth studio album (seventh overall) by United States, American rock music, rock band Chicago (band), Chicago and was released in 1974. It is notable for being their first double album of new material since 1971's ''Chica ...

'' as a sideman, Oliveira officially joined the band in 1974. The blend of jazz-rock and Brazilian rhythm resulting from his presence would end up defining many of the band's hits, including "Happy Man", "Call on Me", "Mongonucleosis" and "

If You Leave Me Now "If You Leave Me Now" is a song by the American rock group Chicago, from their album '' Chicago X''. It was written and sung by bass player Peter Cetera and released as a single on July 30, 1976. It is also the title of a Chicago compilation a ...

". He subsequently appeared on all the albums from '' Chicago VIII'' through ''

Chicago XIV ''Chicago XIV'' is the twelfth studio album by the American band Chicago, released in 1980. Recorded at a time of waning interest in the band, ''Chicago XIV'' remains one of Chicago's poorest-selling albums, failing to reach Gold certification b ...

''. Apart from playing percussion, de Oliveira also provided vocals to "You Get It Up" from ''

Chicago X ''Chicago X'' is the eighth studio album, and tenth album overall, by the American band Chicago. It was recorded at Caribou Ranch and it was released by Columbia Records on June 14, 1976. The album made it to number three on the ''Billboard'' ...

'' (1976) and co-authored "Life is What It is" on ''

Chicago 13 ''Chicago 13'' is the eleventh studio album by the American band Chicago, released in 1979, the follow-up to ''Hot Streets''. ''Chicago 13'' was the band's final release featuring lead guitarist Donnie Dacus, who had followed the late founding ...

'' (1979). Parallel to Chicago, Oliveira continued to work as a session man. In 1978, he played with

The Jacksons The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

on their album ''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

''. During his tenure in Chicago, De Oliveira grew particularly close to guitarist

. De Oliveira was the last band member to see Kath alive the night before he died following a gun-related accident in 1978. In 1981, as Chicago abandoned their musical roots and became more pop-oriented, de Oliveira was asked to leave the band to make room for

Bill Champlin William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, musician, arranger, producer, and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the band Chicago from 1981–2009. ...

. He spent the next five years in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, doing session work for other musicians like

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...

Gal Costa Gal Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos (born Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos; 26 September 1945 – 9 November 2022), known professionally as Gal Costa (), was a Brazilian singer of popular music. She was one of the main figures of the tro ...

Airto Moreira Airto Guimorvan Moreira (born August 5, 1941) is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the ...

, Flora Purim,

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...

and

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...

, before relocating to his native Brazil in 1987. Oliveira lived in Rio de Janeiro, where he was Cultural Director of the Universidade do Grande Rio. In September 2010 he reunited with Chicago on the occasion of the band's concert at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, performing "Happy Man". The event marked the first time any former member of Chicago performed again with the band's new line-up. In April 2016 he appeared as a special guest percussionist alongside former Chicago drummer

and former Chicago guitarist

Donnie Dacus James O. "Donnie" Dacus (born October 12, 1951, in Pasadena, Texas) is an American guitarist, backing vocalist, actor, songwriter, and co- producer. He has been a member of the rock bands Chicago and Badfinger. Early life Dacus grew up in Cleb ...

in a performance in New York following Chicago's 2016 induction into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

. Oliveira died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on 17 September 2017 at the age of 77 while performing onstage in Rio de Janeiro.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliveira, Laudir de 1940 births 2017 deaths Brazilian drummers Brazilian expatriates in the United States Brazilian percussionists Brazilian session musicians Chicago (band) members Conga players Güiro players Latin jazz percussionists Tambourine players Triangle players Musicians who died on stage Deaths in Rio de Janeiro (state) Brazilian jazz percussionists Brazilian record producers