Calling Conti "a musical icon" who was "amongst the greatest drummers in history," Far Out Recordings wrote in tribute, "Ivan was a joyous, kind hearted, hilarious and immensely charismatic man. He had time for everybody and thrived off the love of his family, friends, fellow musicians and fans, which he reciprocated through his music, his warmth and generosity."
"He approached playing and making music with a childlike sense of openness and a truly infectious joy and he will live on through his work with Azymuth, his solo projects and the countless recordings he worked on with other artists in Brazil and around the world."
Conti founded what would become Azymuth alongside keyboardist Jose Roberto Bertrami and bassist Alex Malheiros in the early 1970s, performing covers as Grupo Seleção. The trio would release their debut as Azymuth, titled Azimüth, in 1975.
Azymuth's fusion of jazz, soul, funk, música popular brasileira and bossa would later be remixed by the likes of 4hero, Roni Size, Zed Bias, Maddslinky, Jazzanova and many more. It would also capture the ear of record obsessives like Madlib, who teamed with Conti in 2008 to release collaborative LP Sujinho. Conti also released music as a solo artist, beginning with 1984's The Human Factor.
Azymuth's most recent album is 2020's Jazz Is Dead 4, recorded with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest for their titular label. Last year, Conti and Melheiros contributed to Ron Trent's What Do the Stars Say to You.
As one of the three founding members of Azymuth, in the year of their 50th anniversary Mamão leaves behind a profound musical legacy for which we'll be forever grateful 2/6 pic.twitter.com/xxhUYzmehn
— Far Out Recordings (@FarOutRecs) April 18, 2023
In our eyes he was up there amongst the greatest drummers in history 3/6 pic.twitter.com/MaAWAiwzrR
— Far Out Recordings (@FarOutRecs) April 18, 2023
As well as being a musical icon, Ivan was a joyous, kind hearted, hilarious and immensely charismatic man. He had time for everybody and thrived off the love of his family, friends, fellow musicians and fans, which he reciprocated through his music, his warmth and generosity. 4/6 pic.twitter.com/FtTGO0c2DF
— Far Out Recordings (@FarOutRecs) April 18, 2023
He approached playing and making music with a childlike sense of openness and a truly infectious joy and he will live on through his work with Azymuth, his solo projects and the countless recordings he worked on with other artists in Brazil and around the world. 5/6 pic.twitter.com/Q14LizRZM1
— Far Out Recordings (@FarOutRecs) April 18, 2023
Rest in peace Mamão x 6/6 pic.twitter.com/aD0hkOVTPt
— Far Out Recordings (@FarOutRecs) April 18, 2023