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Claudio Roditi

Claudio Roditi was born May 28th, 1946 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He began his musical studies when he was just five years old. His native Brazilian music upbringing almost took a back seat as he became enamoured with jazz and heard recordings of Louis Armstrong, Harry James and other American trumpeters. By the time he was 13, thanks to an American uncle's record collection; he became familiar with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. At the age of twenty, he was named a finalist in the International Jazz Competition in Vienna, and the following year, moved to Mexico City where he was active on the contemporary music scene. He relocated to Boston in 1970 and studied at the Berklee School of Music in 1970 and 71. Later he joined the faculty of the School of Contemporary Music and rounded out his schedule with club and concert performances.

In 1976 Roditi moved to New York from Boston and began the arduous process of establishing himself in the highly competitive atmosphere of the world's jazz capital. He quickly broke into the local circuit, performing and recording with Joe Henderson, Charlie Rouse, Herbie Mann, Tito Puente, McCoy Tyner, and Paquito D'Rivera.

Charlie Rouse: Cinnamon Flower : The Expanded Version

Read "Cinnamon Flower : The Expanded Version" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
September 19, 2025

Cinnamon Flower: The Expanded Edition is a reissue of The Charlie Rouse Band's 1977 Brazilian-inspired album originally released by Douglas Records. Now, nearly 50 years later, Resonance Records presents a deluxe, definitive edition of the album featuring previously unreleased versions of the songs from the original release. Recorded during a prolific period in Rouse's post-Thelonious Monk career, this project reveals a rarely heard side of the tenor saxophonist: a rhythmic sensuality and melodic elegance inspired by Brazil's vibrant music scene. ...

Album Review

Enrico Granafei: It's Hard to Say Goodbye

Read "It's Hard to Say Goodbye" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
September 18, 2024

With It's Hard to Say Goodbye, multi-talented Italian guitarist and harmonica player, Enrico Granafei and a group of standouts offer eleven Latin-flavored jazz selections. The effort, recorded over an extended period, also features two artists who have unfortunately passed--trumpeter Claudio Roditi and pianist, Mike Longo. Granafei has dedicated the album to them and to the memory of Granafei's mentor, Toots Thielemans. “Claudinho," a Granafei original samba, opens the session. Upbeat in tempo, Granafei and Roditi make the ...

Album Review

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra: DIVA + The Boys

Read "DIVA + The Boys" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
February 18, 2020

The all-female DIVA Jazz Orchesta has a boy-meets-girls story threaded into its origin, as drummer Stanley Kay served as the impetus behind the group's formation. Therefore, it's only fitting that the ladies have a few gentleman over to join them for some high times in the music every now and then. This eight-song set, recorded live at Pittsburgh's Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in March of 2017, finds clarinetist Ken Peplowski, dearly departed trumpeter Claudio Roditi, trombonist Jay Ashby, and ...

Album Review

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra: DIVA + the Boys

Read "DIVA + the Boys" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 11, 2020

After more than twenty-five years as one of the world's most renowned big bands, drummer Sherrie Maricle's superlative all-female DIVA Jazz Orchestra invited a quartet of “the boys" onboard to help ensure the ensemble's twelfth album's success. Even though DIVA needs no consorts to affirm its unremitting mastery, it is nonetheless pleasurable to witness these talented women sharing the stage and blowing up a storm with such esteemed guest artists as clarinetist Ken Peplowski, trombonist Jay Ashby and (it hurts ...

Profile

Remembering Claudio Roditi

by S.G Provizer
February 4, 2020

I knew trumpet player Claudio Roditi for many years and although years would pass between encounters, he made a deep impression. I was very moved by his recent death, as were so many in the jazz community. Claudio was Brazilian and a well-known musician in his country, but like a lot of jazz musicians outside America, he wanted to come here and make it in New York. His first port of call, in 1970, was Boston, where there ...

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Album Review

Claudio Roditi: Bons Amigos

Read "Bons Amigos" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
October 4, 2011

Trumpeter Claudio Roditi may have left Brazil long ago, but his homeland still resides deep inside his soul. On Bons Amigos, Roditi's trumpet speaks, sings and soars in service of songs put to paper by some of the finest writers in Brazilian music history. When it came time to map out a program for this, his third album on Resonance Records, Roditi sat down with producer/label head George Klabin and focused on music, written in the period between the '60s ...

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Album Review

Claudio Roditi: Bons Amigos

Read "Bons Amigos" reviewed by Andrew J. Sammut

by Andrew J. Sammut
August 29, 2011

Bons Amigos is a collection of light, breezy compositions from several generations of Brazilian composers. Lilting sambas and gentle bossa novas make up the bulk of this disc, resulting in a relaxed but heartfelt jam for Brazilian trumpeter/flugelhornist Claudio Roditi and friends. Roditi admits to playing “a few more notes" than usual here, though he often equates “playing a lot of notes with 'showing off.'" Yet Roditi's double-time phrases on the brooding “Para Nada" plumb composer Eliane ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Claudio Roditi

Source: Michael Ricci
May 28, 2023

All About Jazz is celebrating Claudio Roditi's birthday today!

This Brazilian composer/arranger and trumpet artist has fourteen critically acclaimed albums, a Grammy nomination, and a busy international touring schedule that includes the most prestigious jazz festivals in the world. Claudio Roditi was born May 28th, 1946 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He began his musical studies when he was just five years old. His native Brazilian music upbringing almost took a back seat as he became enamoured with jazz and ...
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Birthday