Somehow I feel ill-equipped to write very knowledgeably about João Donato. Although my familiarity with his prolific compositions (Minha Saudade, Amazonas, The Sea is My Song, The Frog, etc.) is not recent, my introduction to his style of piano playing is VERY recent.  In fact, if it were not for his album "Amazonas", I would probably still be ignorant of his abilities on the piano.  My own thoughts on the Amazonas album can be read HERE. Being someone who does not like heavy-handed pianists, I was immediately attracted to the sound of João's piano (as I also love the style of Walter Wanderley, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Henry Mancini, Marian McPartland, Steve Allen and others who have a light touch on keyboards and tend to play more single notes than chords).

João's instrumental talents do not just extend to playing the piano, however. He also sings and even plays trombone! In his early days, he also played accordion.

I would leave out something very important if at this point I did not thank Claudio Slon for giving me the inspiration to go ahead with doing this site. Claudio was the drummer of the new João Donato Trio from 1999 until 2001- and it is the absolute truth that I probably would not have even heard Donato play if I did not learn of Claudio's interest in João as a musician back in 1999. So for that, I am extremely grateful!

Thanks to the following people who contributed either album scans, photos, listing information or other Donato tidbits to this site: Ithamara Koorax, Arnaldo DeSouteiro, Doug Payne, Gregory Flores, William Kenlon, Ivone Belem, Daniella Thompson, Augusto Troncoso, Eumir Deodato, Duane Shimizu, Fernando Gelbard, Jose Sanches Perez, Egidio Leitao, Sônia Sirimarco, Jose Domingos Raffaelli, Gary Corben of whatmusic.com, Tom Johnson, Forrest Patton, Shimon Israel, David Cronin, Leonid Bogdanov, Ronaldo Evangelista, Randy Kosht, Harry Neyhart, Laura McCarthy, Sergio Ximenes, Paul Okami, Henry Thelow, Jarkko Toivonen, Frank-Oliver Hellmann, Rodrigo Araujo, R. Rembert Aranda, Hans-Peter Huebschen, Suitbert Kempkes, Zecalouro and Manoel Dantas.

I hope you enjoy this site dedicated to an exceptional musician and composer - the one and only João Donato!

--B.J. (Barbara J.) Major
Introduction amended 4/17/08

Index

ALL-RECORDINGS INDEX: DISCOGRAPHY and VIDEOGRAPHY: 78 rpm, 45 rpm, EP, LP, CD  Live Concerts, DVD-Audio, DVD, and YouTube Links to  Donato Videos--HERE

Text List of Original Compositions by João Donato--HERE   João Donato Song LYRICS--HERE

João Donato Non-Album Items--HERE

BIOGRAPHY: About João Donato--HERE    Other Descriptive Texts about Donato in Other Languages--HERE

INTERVIEWS: Discovering João Donato--begin HERE Or go directly to a specific interview: Bruni Sablan Interview, Jose Domingos Raffaelli Interview, Arnaldo DeSouteiro Interview, Ithamara Koorax Interview

Donato Tidbits, Trivia, & News--HERE

What's in a Name?--HERE

WATCH and LISTEN to Donato--HERE

PHOTO GALLERY:  Personal Donato Photos--HERE

Other Brazilian and Jazz Music Links--HERE

** Site last updated May 11, 2008 **
NOTE:  THIS SITE HAS NOW BEEN TOTALLY REORGANIZED AND REDONE IN RECORD LABEL ORDER.

**  This discography online since January 2001  **
The graphic appearing beside one or more of the index items indicates new, additional, or updated information as of the "Site updated" date, above.

A list of the most recent additions and updates to my discographies

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