Almir Guineto

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Almir Guineto is a brazilian sambista, musician, singer and composer. He was director of the samba school Salgueiro, a founder of the Fundo de Quintal samba group, and integrated the Originais do Samba group for 10 years before leaving for a solo career. Born on the Salgueiro hills in Rio de Janeiro in a family of musicians, he is credited as the man who introduced the banjo to samba, and is recognized as one of the main fathers of pagode. Almir has over 12 records edited in Brazil, the first one being `O Suburbano', from 1981. His records have a particular samba sound that became trademarked as Almir's, frequently with strong use of the banjo. As a composer, Almir's songs have been recorded by Beth Carvalho, Zeca Pagodinho and many others. His potent voice is another trademark, which some call a `force of nature'. Among his greatest hits are the songs `Conselho' and `Insensato Destino'.

Almir Guineto is very respected today in Brazil as one of the most important live sambistas.