Letieres Leite, a skilled composer, saxophonist, flutist, and educator, was born in Bahia, Brazil on December 8, 1959. While attending the Federal University in Bahia for three years, he began his music studies.
In 1985, Letieres Leite enrolled in the Franz Schubert Konservatorium and resided in Vienna until 1994, where he played at numerous festivals in Europe and Brazil.
After returning to Salvador, Letieres Leite focused on teaching Afro-Bahian rhythm, which led to the creation of the big band Orkestra Rumpilezz and Rumpilezzinho Music Laboratory. He was well-regarded as the leader of the Rumpilezz Institute and 22-piece Orchestra based in Bahia.
In 2006, he established the institute as a platform not only for music production but also for cultural initiatives and research, which focused on cataloging information about the Bahia percussive culture, Afro-Bahian music, and educational transfer of this knowledge.
The band released two albums, one in 2009 and the other in 2016. After that, the Moacir de Todos os Santos project began in 2018 when Sylvio Fraga of Brazilian label Rocinante asked Letieres Leite to transform the live show into a record for his label. The studio was expanded to accommodate the 22 players and musicians, including Letieres Leite and his flute, which was tuned to the key of G.
Letieres Leite worked as an arranger and composer on Maria Bethânia’s “Noturno” album and his orchestration of the song Pardo from Caetano Veloso’s “Meu coco” album.
The maestro collaborated with other teachers to develop the Rumpilezzinho project, a non-Eurocentric approach aimed at training young musicians in Salvador. He also used his new methods in countless courses and talks in Brazil and other parts of the world.
In June 2019, Rocinante released “O enigma Lexeu” (The Riddle of Lexeu), an album by the Letieres Leite Quintet with new original material, both jazz-oriented and grounded in the world of Bahian percussion.
In 2022, Rocinante released Moacir of All the Sambas, the Orkestra Rumpilezz’s third CD, featuring Letieres’ original arrangements of seven classic “Coisas” (Things) composed by Pernambuco native Moacir Santos. “It’s as if we invited Moacir to visit all the candomblé nations’ temples in Salvador,” he said in 2019.
Letieres Leite passed away on October 27, 2021.
(headline image: Letieres Leite – Photo by João Atala)
Discography:
Letieres Leite & Orkestra Rumpilezz (2009)
A Saga Da Travessia (2016)
Moacir de Todos Os Santos (2022)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.