Claudio, 1966.
BIOGRAPHY: About
Claudio Slon
Claudio, 1966.
Born: Argentina--November 12, 1943
Died: Denver, CO--April 16, 2002
Performed and recorded with top local groups.
Won Brazilian Jazz Critics' Poll "New Star" award at age 17. Joined
the São Paulo Philharmonic Orchestra for two years as first
Percussionist. Signed with producer Creed Taylor to record in New
York as part of the Walter Wanderley Trio; their single for Verve
Records ("Summer Samba") reached #3 in Billboard Magazine's singles
chart; their first album release ("Rain Forest") was awarded Platinum
status in 1970. Continued his studio work in New York, moving after a
year to California, where he worked and toured with groups in the
Jazz, Latin, Country, Brazilian, and Rhythm and Blues idioms, as well
as continuing his studio work as drummer, percussionist, and
producer.
From the Claudio Slon page on All Music Guide:
"Top Brazilian drummer Claudio Slon performed with The Walter Wanderley Trio and Sergio Mendes' Brazil' 66 during the '60s, and appeared on many Brazilian sessions overseen by Creed Taylor for the Verve label, including such label spotlights as A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness by Astrud Gilberto, Wave by Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Samba '68 by Marcos Valle. Born in Brazil, Slon recorded with several groups from an early age, and won a country-wide jazz critics' poll while still a teenager. He performed in The São Paulo Philharmonic for several years as well, but left the country for New York to join The Walter Wanderley Trio.
The success of the Wanderley Trio's top five
single "Summer Samba" and platinum debut album Rain Forest
brought recording work of all kinds for Slon during the period,
including a high-profile gig with Jobim and Frank Sinatra on the
album Sinatra and Company and its accompanying television
special. He joined Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66 by the end of the
decade. Slon appeared with the group for almost a decade, and has
also played with Dori Caymmi, Paulinho DaCosta, John Pisano, and Joe
Pass, among others. Slon also co-led (with Milcho Leviev) the
Leviev-Slon Quartet, releasing albums for Vartan Jazz (Jive
Sambas) and Elephant (When I'm 64), the latter recorded
with Herbie Mann. Now based in California, Slon continues to work in
the studio as a drummer, percussionist, and producer."--John Bush,
All Music Guide.
Special
Note: This biographical entry above has significant omissions and
was edited and amended by this webmaster for the Wikipedia entry on Claudio Slon.
Claudio was married to the same woman for over thirty years, having married when he was 19 and still living in Brazil. They had three daughters. Sadly, one of their daughters passed away after suffering from a critical illness in early November 2000.
After recording with Walter Wanderley in New
York, Claudio then moved to Los Angeles, where he lived for over 30
years. However, the earthquake of 1994 totally demolished their home,
and after living for a brief time in a few other U.S. cities, the
Slons settled in Denver, CO and Claudio was a performer at Vartan's
Jazz Club in Denver on a regular basis until that club closed its
doors due to bankruptcy. Claudio talked about all this and more in
his 2 hour interview with Brazilian disc jockey Cenir on NPR's
"Brazilian Fantasy" program on KUVO (Denver) in April, 1999. The
complete transcript of this interview is located elsewhere on this site.
The liner notes of "Walter Wanderley Samba
Swing!" includes a telephone interview with Claudio.