Creator of the Rumpilezz Orchestra, musician worked with Elba Ramalho, Lulu Santos, Daniela Mercury, Ivete Sangalo, and Hermeto Pascoal, among others
Conductor and composer Letieres Leite, the founder of Orkestra Rumpilezz, died last Wednesday (27), at 61 years of age. The musician could not resist complications caused by Covid-19.
Son of Maria do Carmo dos Santos Leite and his Antônio Letieres Leite, born in Salvador, Letieres Leite learned in a self-taught way to play wind instruments in his youth, starting with the flute, moving on to tenor sax and soprano sax.
His relationship with the arts began in the fine arts, at age 13, with painting and engraving. For three years he attended the course of plastic art at the Federal University of Bahia, while at the same time starting his music studies.
As recalled by the Department of Culture of the State of Bahia, Letieres began to work as a professional musician in Salvador. He moved to the south of the country in 1981, during which time he founded some groups, played with several artists, and wrote arrangements for the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra.
Moving to Austria in 1985, he performed with many renowned artists, at festivals in Europe and also in Brazil. He returned to live in Brazil in 1994, and later, in 1998, he returned to UFBA, this time as a professor at the Faculty of Music, acting in the role until 1999.
He founded AMBAH – Academia de Música da Bahia, a school specialized in teaching popular music with a focus on music from Bahia. Throughout his career, he recorded or performed with renowned names such as Elba Ramalho, Lulu Santos, Daniela Mercury, Ivete Sangalo, Timbalada, Retrofoguetes, Hermeto Pascoal, among many others.
Letieres Leite and Orkestra Rumpilezz
However, the most important chapter in the trajectory of Letieres Leite, which he considered his greatest pride, begins to be written in 2006, the year in which he created the Orkestra Rumpilezz, the result of a project started the previous year, at Teatro Gamboa, in which promoted encounters of the Bahia instrumental scene with drummers.
For Rumpilezz, he brought a background acquired in his years in Vienna, when he went through several projects that mixed jazz, Brazilian music, and percussion. The debut album was released in 2009 under the title “Letieres Leite & Orkestra Rumpilezz”. In addition to conducting the group, Letieres was responsible for the entire concept – costumes, ambiance – passing through the compositions and arrangements of wind and percussion.
Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner writes all the Latest Articles. She mostly covers Entertainment topics, but at times loves to write about movie reviews as well.
