Brazilian singer Luciana Souza has worked in many genres, from jazz and bossa nova to classical music and even, as a small child, commercial jingles. A graduate of Berklee and the New England Conservatory of Music, Souza has been nominated for four Grammys and worked at a prolific pace. In fact, she's just released two albums of covers, Duos III and The Book of Chet; the latter finds her covering the works of Chet Baker. Souza discussed her career, her vocal techniques and the language of music with All Things Considered host Melissa Block. Hear the radio version at the audio link and read more of their conversation below.
NPR: What do you hear as the links between bossa nova from Brazil and the West Coast cool jazz of Chet Baker?
I think there are very obvious connections. Both records are records of covers. I'm just singing songs that have already been recorded. They're very simple; they're very direct live recordings done with very few instruments. Those are the obvious things, and then for me, stylistically, I'm not changing anything when I'm singing in English and in Portuguese. I'm really looking for the common language between these two records as if they are Side A and Side B.
Obviously, Portuguese comes very naturally to me — I was born and raised in Brazil — so this is the music that's my native music. English is sort of my adopted language, and America's my adopted country. I've been here for over 25 years now, so more than half of my life at this point. So singing in English for me right now is almost as natural as Portuguese, but looking for repertoire that suits me is still challenging.
NPR: Do you think there's something in the sound that links these two albums together — that you're hearing something in both bossa nova and in songs that Chet Baker made famous that really are of a piece for you?
Yes, absolutely. There's a deep connection between Chet Baker and bossa nova. It's known and it's well-documented that musicians in the bossa nova era, so mid- to late '50s and early '60s, were listening to Chet Baker, who had the height of his popularity in the mid-'50s as a singer and trumpet player.
So this music was coming to Brazil — these players were listening to that music, and with the advent of microphones, people were getting closer to the mic and able to sing more subtly and not belting out with a lot of bravado. It's the same sound you find in the music coming out of the U.S. at the time, especially coming out of L.A. — the sort of the West Coast jazz, and especially in the voice of Chet Baker. So there's that connection, and then the music I grew up listening to is primarily bossa nova, which is quiet, straight-toned, very still and subtle. There is definitely an obvious connection there.
NPR: It's interesting to me that you're calling bossa nova subtle, because there's so much spirit and joy in the faster songs that you do on the album — like "Doralice," for example.
Yeah, but it's still for us Brazilians samba — "Doralice" could be considered the samba, as well. When it's done with a large band and a lot of percussion, then that's what we call loud. So if it's done with just guitar and bass and drums and a little percussion, then it can be considered bossa nova or treated like a bossa, which is what I do whenever I sing anything, basically.
NPR: Talk me through this conversation you're having [in "Doralice"], with your sort of scatting vocals and guitar.
"Doralice," like many of the songs I sing, is about a love affair. In this case, it's a guy who feels quite pressured because this woman, his fiancee at this point, really wants him to get married and is really pushing him. He says, 'No, no. Doralice, listen. I'm fine.' It's sort of like a man at a corner being forced into a situation he knows is not going to turn out very well. So we try to infuse it with humor, obviously, because it's in the lyric. The dialogue between the voice and guitar is the dialogue between the woman and the man.
NPR: It's a lot of words to fit in there.
It certainly is, and it's always a challenge with Portuguese, but I like to force myself into these places ... I think that's sort of my jazz spirit coming through, also. I want to be able to do something different with this song, so it's been sung slowly; it's been done differently. What can I do to it to create some interest and challenge for myself, so I can make something new with it?
NPR: And what are you singing there?
I'm saying, "Well, one day you showed up to me and I tried to run away, but you insisted. Something was telling me. Something was telling me very deeply that I should run away, but I stayed." And at the end of the song, they actually end up getting married. He throws his hands in the air and says, "OK, I've done it."
Full on: http://www.npr.org/2012/08/31/160310203/luciana-souza-from-bossa-nova-to-chet-baker
Full on: http://www.npr.org/2012/08/31/160310203/luciana-souza-from-bossa-nova-to-chet-baker
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