Walter Wanderley

Accomplished pianist and organist Walter Jose Wanderley Mendoca was born on May 12, 1932 in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Walter specialized in lounge and bossa nova music with a very soothing mellow vibe to it. Wanderley was already playing piano by the age of five and at age twelve was attending the Licee of Arts for a year for theory classes. Walter started performing and recording professionally in Recife when he was about eighteen years old. After moving to Sao Paulo in 1958 at age twenty-fix, Wanderley made a name for himself as an active player in such clubs as Oasis, the Claridge, and the Captain's Bar. Walter recorded his first album for the label Odeon in 1959. This album and subsequent albums all sold well in Wanderley's native Brazil. Walter was encouraged by Tony Bennett to move to America in the mid-1960's. Wanderley and his trio recorded six albums on the Verve Record label between 1966 and 1968. Moreover, Walter scored a substantial hit with his recording of the song "Summer Samba," which peaked at #26 on the Billboard pop radio charts in the summer of 1966. Wanderley went on to record a few additional albums and even embarked on occasional concert tours of Mexico as well as often performed live in the San Francisco area. Walter died of cancer at age 54 on September 4, 1986 in San Francisco, California. He was survived by his popular singer wife Isaurinha Garcia and a daughter, Monica.