Thirty years ago Joao Donato was in a figure that only a few people around the world remembered or knew about. In his native Brazil he was forgotten completely by the public – despite working with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa and many other big stars at the time. But over the years the world got smaller, the internet brought music fans together like never before and more and more people had a chance to discover his incredible legacy, from playing trombone with Tito Puente, organ with Cal Tjader, having Chet Baker in his band the night he famously lost his teeth, working with Jobim and Joao Gilberto to the fusion album he made with Donatinho – Joao Donato Jr.
Yesterday at the age of 85 years young (really he’s no more than 18 still inside) Donato showed us at the Jazz Cafe that he still has total domination of his audience. Supported by members of Sao Paulo based funk and afro beat group Bixiga 70 who were less than half his age, Donato made an entrance to rapturous applause and, still standing, immediately started riffing some dirty funk groove on his vintage Hohner Clavinet.
It’s worth remembering that when Donato was experimenting with electric keyboards in 1970 on the Blue Thumb album A Bad Donato he was already from a previous generation than the likes of Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder, but still experimenting when many artists would have stuck in their own past. With Mauricio Fleury on guitar, Decio Sete on drums, Marcelo Dworecki on bass and fiery young Douglas Antunes on trombone, Donato funked his way through hit after hit.
The set consisted of a lot of material that Donato only recently started revisiting in the last few years, the repertoire that suits the electric lineup and was perfect for the young crowd in the Jazz Cafe.
Amazonas, Eleva Eleguá, Não Tem Nada Não, Me Deixa, Jodel, Whistle Stop, Cafe Com Pão amongst others, and ending on a rousing selection of Cala Boca Menino, Emorio and Nasci Para Bailar with the audience singing along and shouting ‘mais um’ at the end, each time it looked like Donato might stop.
After the gig, Donato came out and sat at the merch table and gleefully posed with fans and record collectors looking for him to sign copies. It was like locusts descended on the table and almost everything got sold out. I managed to grab the last copy of Gozando a Existencia on vinyl. What was really noticeable though was the young age of the fans in the queue for photos. Nothing like you’d expect from an artist in their 80s, but then Donato really is still 18 at heart.
Text: Gary Corben