Michael Jackson collaborator dead at 54

November 03, 2009 02:06:01 PM

• A⁺ 
• A^-
• |
• 
• |
• 
• |
• 

Hundreds of people in Salvador de Bahia turned out Monday for the funeral of Antonio Alves de Souza, Brazil's king of drums and Olodum group leader, who accompanied Michael Jackson in a 1996 video filmed by Spike Lee.

Alves, 54 died from a heart attack on Saturday and will be buried on Tuesday, according to local media.

Alves' funeral in Bahia's colonial neighborhood of Pelourinho, where part of Jackson's "They don't care about us" music video was shot, was attended by authorities, musicians, friends and admirers of the famous "Neguinho do Samba."

Under Alves' direction, Olodum perfected its distinctive samba-reggae blend of Brazilian and African rhythms that fired Jackson's video, also shot in a Rio de Janeiro shantytown by US movie director Lee.

Other musicians equally fascinated by Alves' musical creations include Paul Simon.

Jackson died on June 25 at age 50 after taking a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs.