Ivan Conti

Ivan Conti, the legendary drummer and founding member of Brazilian jazz-funk trio Azymuth, has died aged 76. The news was announced today, April 18th, in a Facebook post by Alex Malheiros, the sole remaining member of the group. The cause of death remains unclear. “Rest in peace dear friend, brother, comrade,” the post read. “Lots of light on your new journey.” Widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest drummers, Conti, AKA Mamão, was also a composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1946, he first emerged in the bossa nova and samba scenes of the ’60s, working alongside greats such as Marcos Valle, Gal Costa and Milton Nascimento. Conti then formed Azymuth in 1973 with Malheiros and the late Jose Roberto Bertrami. The highly influential trio labelled their music “samba doido,” which translates to “crazy samba,” and Conti’s hard-swinging style was the backbone. Their music had a profound impact on the electronic scene, and has been remixed by the likes of Theo Parrish, 4Hero, Kirk Degiorgio and Ashley Beedle. Away from Azymuth, Conti was a member of groups such as Grupo Batuque, Os Ipanemas and The Youngsters. He also released a joint album with Madlib in 2008 and, more recently, collaborated with Ron Trent. Azymuth have continued to tour regularly in recent years, and are scheduled to perform in London, Manchester and Berlin in June. It’s unclear whether these shows will still go ahead. Check out Azymuth’s Boiler Room from 2017, and read some tributes to Conti.