Luperce Miranda - King of The Mandolin

Luperce Bezerra Pessoa de Miranda (28/7 1904 - 5/4 1977) is considered one of the best Brasilian mandolin players. Alvaro Neder writes in the AMG:

"Luperce Miranda, and later, Jacob do Bandolim, were responsible for the presence of the mandolin in the Brazilian popular music scene. Before them, the mandolin was used sporadically and always as accompaniment. The crescent soloist activity of these renowned musicians imposed the instrument in a broader circle. Miranda played and recorded with the who's who of Brazilian popular music. Among his recordings, both as a soloist and accompanist, he left around 900 registers. He wrote around 500 compositions in several genres, such as choro, valse, and frevo. A superb musician of irreproachable technique, he forged his style in the Neapolitan school, leaving to do Bandolim the honor of the development of a Brazilian school of the instrument."

A small career profile in the Dicionário Cravo Albin

"He had his first contact with the instrument at eight years of age. His first composition was a 1919 frevo track. He was considered to be a virtuoso on the mandolin. In 1926, he joined the group Turunas da Mauricéia. They sang emboladas and cocos, rhythms that before this were unknown in Brazilian cities, and wore simple country style clothes and hats with the wide brims turned up at the front. The embolada Pinião, co-authored with Augusto Calheiros that was part of the repertoire of the Turunas, constituted one of the great successes of the Recife carnival in 1928. He moved to Rio de Janeiro at the end of the 1920s. He appeared, in 1931, with Carmen Miranda, Mário Reis, Francisco Alves and Tute, among others on Rádio El Mundo in Buenos Aires. From 1936, he worked at Rádio Mayrink Veiga. He accompanied the great artists of the time, such as Carmen Miranda. In 1945, he transferred to Rádio Nacional. He left more than 500 compositions and participated in approximately 700 recordings. In respect of his talent, the maestro Francisco Braga said : “Young man, I consider you to be the king of the mandolin”, and Villa–Lobos also once declared: “Boy, you are a genius!”."

A few sound clips available here and here

More discographical info in the Funarte database

More sound available using the online search facilities at Instituto Moreira Salles

Jo