Brazilian Guitarist Almeida Dies

Laurindo Almeida, a Brazilian guitarist who helped introduce Brazilian music in the United States and recorded with the Modern Jazz Quartet, Herbie Mann and Stan Kenton, died Wednesday, July 26, at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, Calif. He was 77.

The cause was leukemia, said his wife, Deltra.

Almeida began his career as a classical guitar virtuoso in Sao Paulo. In 1947, he moved to Los Angeles and joined Stan Kenton’s orchestra.