Prominent Executive in Brazilian Recording Industry Dies at Age 86

By Richard Mann

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – André Midani, producer and musician, died on Thursday night, June 13th, at age 86. One of the greatest icons of the music industry, he was crucial in releasing bossa nova in Brazil and discovered great singers.

Midani had cancer and was hospitalized at the São Vicente Health Center in Gávea, in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro. The information was confirmed by the clinic and his son, Phelippe. The wake should be restricted to friends and family.

The musician was born in September 1932, in Syria. He lived in France and came to Brazil in 1955 as a result of the war in Algeria.

At the end of the 1950s, he worked for the Odeon record label (now EMI). Midani made his mark on Brazilian music in the 1960s and 1970s, when he was in charge of the Brazilian subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Phonogram/Philips.

He released artists such as Tim Maia and Raul Seixas. He also worked with Elis Regina, Tom Jobim, Gilberto Gil, Belchior, Hermeto Pascoal, Paulinho da Viola, and Ney Matogrosso. He was among those behind diffusing bossa nova to the world.

In the 80s, he invested in Brazilian rock talents such as Lulu Santos, Titãs and Kid Abelha.

He moved to New York in 1990, where he took over the presidency of Warner for Latin America. He was considered by Billboard magazine as one of the 90 most prominent people in the world record industry.

Midani returned to Brazil in the early 2000s. In 2005, he was decorated by the French government.

Reflecting on the importance of music in people’s lives in an interview granted last year, Midani declared: “Good music is the one playing in here (points to the heart). Music is emotion.”

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