From Brazil’s Amazon to bossa nova and beyond, prolific pianist João Donato dies at 88

By DAVID BILLER
Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian composer and pianist João Donato, who helped lay the groundwork for bossa nova but defied confinement to any single genre, has died at the age of 88. His death Monday was announced on his verified Instagram account. Local media report that he had been hospitalized for pneumonia. Donato was prolific and inventive, collaborating with top artists at home and abroad, including Chet Baker, João Gilberto, Sergio Mendes, Tito Puente, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa and countless others. Brazil’s president says on Twitter: “Today we lost one of our greatest and most creative composers.”