Paulinho da Costa

Paulo Roberto da Costa, popularly known as Paulinho da Costa (Portuguese pronunciation: [pawˈliɲu dɐ ˈkɔʃtɐ], born May 31, 1948), is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Mendes. He went on to perform with many American pop, rock and jazz musicians and participated in thousands of albums. DownBeat magazine call him "one of the most talented percussionists of our time." He played on such albums as Earth, Wind & Fire's I Am, Madonna's True Blue, hit singles and movie soundtracks, including Dirty Dancing and Purple Rain among others.