Wanderley was born in
Recife, Brazil. Already famous in his native country by the late 1950s, he became an internationally renowned star in the mid-1960s through his collaboration with the singer
Astrud Gilberto. He recorded six albums on the
Verve label between 1966 and 1968. Three of those albums,
Rain Forest,
Cheganca, and
Astrud Gilberto's
A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness, were with a trio consisting of Wanderley,
Claudio Slon (drums), and
Jose Marino (bass) and were produced in the United States by
Creed Taylor, who initially brought the trio to the U.S. to record at the persuasion of
Tony Bennett. Wanderley's U.S. recording of
Summer Samba reached No. 26 on the
Billboard charts in the summer of 1966. Another album recorded during that period was
Popcorn, in collaboration with the Brazilian singer-guitarist
Luiz Henrique Rosa. Around that same period Wanderley also established
The Carnival with Bob Matthews, João Palma, José Soares, and
Janis Hansen; all former members of
Sérgio Mendes' Brasil '66. After the trio disbanded (though they were briefly reunited in 1971 for "The Return of the Original" on
Canyon Records), Wanderley himself continued to record albums on Verve, A&M/CTI, and GNP Crescendo. During that time, he also made numerous personal appearances, including a concert tour of Mexico. He was married to , one of the most popular singers in Brazil in the 1940s and 1950s. He is the grandfather of Brazilian actor and singer
Rickkie. ==Discography==