Luciana Souza: From Bossa Nova To Chet Baker

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.

jazzset with dee dee bridgewater

Luciana Souza On JazzSet WBGO

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

Luciana Souza on Jazz Set......

At the Kennedy Center's aptly named Family Theater in Washington, D.C., a six-months-pregnant Luciana Souza walked onstage and turned in profile to show off her belly. You'll hear the cheer. This would be her final performance before taking time off to have her baby.

Souza opens the evening by playing a song associated with guitarist and singer Joao Gilberto, saying, "This is a song called 'Adeus America.' It speaks of someone who's been in the States for way too long, and misses Brazil in a certain way that we Brazilians miss Brazil."

The bossa nova style comes naturally to Souza. It's quiet, reflective music that requires close communication between the musicians onstage and the audience.

"The world is so loud and noisy now that it can be a challenge to get people to sit and listen to something quiet," Souza says. "But I have faith they will."

Everyone listens closely as Souza and her trio weave a tapestry of sounds and stories. One of the highlights of the evening is a song that serves as a touchstone for many Brazilians, "Waters of March." The images are so visual, Souza says, that it's as if lyricist and composer Antonio Carlos Jobim had traveled the country, taking photographs along the way.

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Luciana Souza....

Luciana Souza (born June 14, 1966)[1] is a Brazilian jazz singer and composer who has crossed over into classical music.
Daughter of poet Tereza Souza and singer-composer-guitarist Walter Santos, she grew up in São Paulo. She is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston from which she received a Bachelor's degree in Jazz Composition. She then received a Master's degree from the New England Conservatory of Music.
She began her career at the age of three by recording jingles for commercials. She has also worked in the field of European classical music, working with the Bach Akademie in Stuttgart, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, composer Osvaldo Golijov, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.

Luciana Souza's first solo album was An Answer to Your Silence (NYC Records, 1999). The Poems of Elizabeth Bishop and Other Songs (Sunnyside Records, 2000) was fifth place in The New York Times' 2000 The Year in Pop and Jazz: The Critics' Choice list. In 1991, she was elected Discovery of the Year by APCA for her work with Hermeto Pascoal. In the next year, she toured with the Zimbo Trio. In 1995, she was nominated for Outstanding Latin Act and, in the next year, Outstanding Jazz Vocalist at the Boston Music Awards. Among the artists she has been performing and recording with are her godfather, Hermeto Pascoal; Danilo Perez; Zimbo Trio; David Kikoski; Joey Calderazzo; Romero Lubambo; Guillermo Klein; Oscar Castro-Neves; Cyro Baptista; the Paul Winter Consort; Ben Sher Group; Steve Lacy; Kenny Wheeler; Donald Brown; John Patitucci; Kenny Werner; Osvaldo Golijov; Bob Moses; and George Garzone. From a musical family (her parents are Walter Santos and Tereza Souza), Souza has been involved with music since her childhood, when she worked with jingles. After four years at Unicamp University in Brazil, she went to the Berklee College of Music, where she received a bachelor's degree in jazz composition. She received a master's degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. In 2009, Souza released Tide her first album for Verve and her second collaboration with husband and producer Larry Klein.
Alvaro Neder, All Music Guide

Luciana Souza - Tide

On TIDE, Brazilian vocalist Luciana Souza delivers a superb set of seven original songs on which she collaborates with such musical luminaries as guitarists Romero Lubambo, Larry Koonse, husband, bassist and producer Larry Klein, Cyro Baptista on percussion, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums and Larry Goldings on keyboards. Rebecca Pidgeon provides background vocals to this multi-faceted treasure of wonderful music that also features songs by Paul Simon, and Brazilian folklorists. However, the real treasures are mined in “Love Poem 65” and the title track both of which are based upon e.e. cummings’ poems. Both showcase the composing skills of the husband/wife duo. Both songs are romantic ballads, subtle, and subdued by Souza’s beautiful vocals and the intimacy of the lyrical guitar voicings. The Brazilian experience continues with Souza singing several songs in Portugese including “Adeus America & Eu Quero Um Samba,” “Sorriu Para Mim” “Chuva” and “Amulet.” Overall, TIDE is a versatile statement of Luciana Souza’s growth as a singer of original English language compositions and a proven master of true Brazilian bossa nova and samba standards.

Luciana Souza - The New Bossa Nova

Three-time Grammy nominee LUCIANA SOUZA was raised in São Paulo, Brazil, where she grew up in a family of Bossa Nova composers. A respected composer and vocalist, she defies categories bringing her outstanding musicianship and unique sound to any project. The New York Times has called her "an impressive singer" and a "quite serious composer". Whether performing works by Osvaldo Golijov and Manuel de Falla, singing with the big bands with Maria Schneider and Kenny Wheeler, or performing in small jazz groups, Souza brings something to the music that has been called "transcendental."

Luciana Souza, jazz & bossa nova singer

Grammy winner Luciana Souza is one of Jazz’s leading singers and interpreters. Hailing from S�Paulo, Brazil, she grew up in a family of Bossa Nova innovators. Her work as a performer transcends traditional boundaries around musical styles, offering solid roots in jazz, sophisticated lineage in world music, and an enlightened approach to classical repertoire and new music.

As a leader, Luciana Souza has seven acclaimed releases including her three Grammy nominated records "Brazilian Duos," 2002, "North and South," 2003, and "Duos II," 2005. Her debut recording for Universal/Verve, "The New Bossa Nova, " (2007) was met with critical acclaim (Bilboard Latin Jazz Album of the Year) and offers an exquisite and personal interpretation on songs by Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and Steely Dan, and a sublime duet with James Taylor. The record was produced by Ms. Souza’s husband, Larry Klein.

Ms. Souza has performed and recorded with greats like Herbie Hancock (on his Grammy winning record, River – The Joni Letters), Paul Simon, Maria Schneider, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, Hermeto Pascoal, and many others. Her complete discography contains more than 50 records as a side singer. Luciana Souza’s singing has been called "transcendental, "perfect, " and of "unparalleled beauty. " Entertainment Weekly said, "Her voice traces a landscape of emotion that knows no boundaries. "

Luciana Souza has been a prominent soloist in two important works by composer Osvaldo Golijov – La Pasion According to St. Mark, and Oceana. She has performed with the Bach Akademie Stuttgart, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Other orchestral appearances include de Falla's "El Amor Brujo" with the New York Philharmonic, the Atlanta Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Her work in chamber music includes a fruitful collaboration with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.

Ms. Souza began her recording career at age three with a radio commercial, and recorded more than 200 jingles and soundtracks, becoming a first-call studio veteran at age 16. She spent four years on faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she received a Bachelor's in Jazz Composition. Ms. Souza earned a Master's degree in Jazz Studies from New England Conservatory of Music and taught for four years at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, in New York City. In 2005, Luciana was awarded Female Jazz Singer of the Year, by the Jazz Journalists Association.
Please visit www.lucianasouza.com