Aloísio de Oliveira

Aloísio de Oliveira
Background information
Born	(1914-12-30)December 30, 1914 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Died	February 4, 1995(1995-02-04) (aged 80) Los Angeles, Califórnia
Genres	Samba, Bossa Nova
Occupation(s)	Record producer, singer, actor, Brazilian composer
Labels	Odeon Records, Decca Records, RCA Victor, Elenco, Som Livre, Warner Music

Aloísio or Aloysio de Oliveira (December 30, 1914 – February 4, 1995), also known as Louis Oliveira, was a Brazilian record producer, singer, actor and composer.^[1] A key figure in the internationalization of Brazilian popular music, he contributed to Carmen Miranda's career abroad with his own musical ensemble: Bando da Lua, which he founded in 1929 with Hélio Jordão Pereira, Afonso Osório, Stênio Osório, Armando Osório, Osvaldo Éboli, Ivo Astolfi, Diego Astolfi and some other cousins of the latter for a total of 12 people.^[2] With the death of Miranda in August 1955 the group disbanded. Back in Brazil, Aloísio directed the command of Odeon Records, then created his own record label: the Elenco, producing dozens of discs and launching important names of bossa nova as Tom Jobim.^[3][4]

Aloísio graduated in dentistry, but never practiced this profession. From an early age, he had a strong relationship with music. In 1929, Aloísio joined Bando da Lua band and already in 1931 the group recorded their first album 78 rpm, in which he sang one of the two tracks, samba Tá de Mona.

Later, in 1939, he traveled to the United States with his group to accompany Carmen Miranda (with whom he had a brief relationship). In the 1940s, he began working with Walt Disney soundtracks as a consultant (helped create the character Zé Carioca), narrating documentaries and like cartoon voice actor (the lines in Portuguese of Captain Hook in Peter Pan are written by him).^[5]

In Saludos Amigos, he sang "Aquarela do Brasil" (Ary Barroso). In The Three Caballeros, he took part as actor and also to the soundtrack. In addition, he directed the Bando da Lua in its new phase, from 1949 until its end, six years later, with the death of Carmen Miranda in August 1955.

After Miranda's death, Aloísio returned to Brazil, where he worked as artistic director of Odeon Records (now EMI Records) and acted in Radio Mayrink Veiga, with Aurora Miranda and Vadico. In 1959, he was responsible for launching the LP Chega de Saudade, João Gilberto, landmark of bossa nova. The following year, he transferred to the Philips Records (now Universal Music), remaining there for eight months. In 1963 he married Sylvia Telles, singer launched by him and who produced albums, and founded his own record label: Elenco, specializing in high artistic quality discs.^[6]

Aloísio launched several artists in solo albums, as Edu Lobo, Nara Leão, Nana Caymmi, Vinicius de Moraes (as a singer) – indeed the first LP of Elenco was "Vinicius & Odette Lara" – in addition to producing albums anthologies, as Caymmi Visita Tom, Vinicius & Caymmi Zum Zum in, Edu & Bethania, Maysa (live at Au Bon Gourmet), among others. It was also in the 1960s that he composed many famous songs in partnership with Tom Jobim, as Dindi, Só Tinha de Ser com Você, Inútil Paisagem, Eu Preciso de Você, among others.

In 1968, when the "Elenco" was extinguished, Aloísio went back to the US, where he produced Brazilian artists discs at Warner Music.^[7] In 1972 he returned to his country, working as a music producer on various labels such as Odeon, RCA Victor and Som Livre. Eleven years later, in 1983, he published the memoir "De Banda pra Lua" (Editora Record).

Aloísio married for the first time in 1944, with an American, Nora, who worked as a secretary at Disney Company, with whom he had an only daughter, Luise. His second marriage was with another American, Nikky Walker. In 1963, he married the Brazilian singer Sylvia Telles, launched by him. He married later with Cyva singer (Quarteto em Cy), and also maintained a brief romance with Carmen Miranda in the late 1930s and early 1940s. About his relationship with singer, Aloísio said in an interview to Jornal do Brasil in 1988: "We were very young at the time, but then we were great friends until the end of her life."^[8] His last marriage was to Margot Brito, and lasted until his death in 1995.^[9]

Aloísio de Oliveira died on February 4, 1995, in Los Angeles, where he had lived the last years of life, from lung cancer at the Hospital Saint Joseph Medical Center where he had been admitted for treatment since November 1994.^[10]

Oliveira, Aloysio. De banda pra lua (in Portuguese). [S.l.]: Editora Record, 1983. OCLC 10183935.

• Aloísio de Oliveira at IMDb
• Elenco – A Casa da Bossa Nova at the Canal Brasil (Miniseries about the Record Label Elenco)