News & Press

Oct 5, 2011

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DANVILLE, KY – Centre College’s Norton Center for the Arts will host the Luciana Souza Trio made up of Grammy® winning vocalist Luciana Souza, the creative and energetic guitarist Romero Lubambo and premier percussionist and Grammy® winner Cyro Baptista, in a seductive evening of traditional and contemporary Brazilian songs titled ¡Viva Brazil!. From Brazilian pop tunes to the bossa nova, folk songs to lyrical interpretations of Pablo Neruda’s poetry, the Luciana Souza Trio performs beautiful Brazilian music with equal parts melody, clarity and sizzle.  The group will also participate in a panel discussion, a middle and high school matinee and other activities while visiting Danville.
Grammy® winner Luciana Souza is one of Jazz’s leading singers and interpreters. Hailing from São 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.

“These highly sought-after artists are known by the company they keep,” says Norton Center Executive Director Steve Hoffman.  “They have performed and recorded with some of music’s greatest legends including James Taylor, Yo-Yo Ma, Kathleen Battle, Paul Simon, Trey Anastasio (of Phish), Wynton Marsalis, Sting, Harry Belafonte and even Snoop Dogg.  Collectively, the trio performs incredibly tight and acoustically superb.”

As a leader, Luciana Souza has eight acclaimed releases including her four Grammy® nominated records "Brazilian Duos" (2002), "North and South" (2003),  "Duos II" (2005), and “Tide” (2009). Her debut recording for Universal/Verve (produced by her husband, Larry Klein), "The New Bossa Nova, " (2007) was met with critical acclaim (Bilboard Latin Jazz Album of the Year) and on “Tide,” Luciana “continued her captivating journey as a uniquely talented vocalist who organically crosses genre borders. Her music soulfully reflects, wistfully regrets, romantically woos, joyfully celebrates…”(Billboard).

Ms. Souza has performed and recorded with greats like James Taylor, Herbie Hancock (on his Grammy® winning record, “River – The Joni Letters”), Paul Simon, Bobby McFerrin, Maria Schneider, Danilo Perez, as well as many others. Her longstanding duo work with Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo has earned her accolades across the globe. 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 Grammy® Award-winning 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 later 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. From 2005 to 2010, Luciana was the Jazz Artist in Residence with the prestigious San Francisco Performances. Ms. Souza will be a featured soloist with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra on the premiere of a new piece by young composer Derek Bermel in 2011.

Since arriving in the U.S. in 1980 from his native country Brazil, Cyro Baptista has emerged as one of the premier percussionists in the country. Coinciding with the rise of the public’s interest in world music, Cyro has managed to record and tour with some of music’s most popular names. His mastery of Brazilian percussion and the many instruments he creates himself, have catapulted him into world renown.
With his own project, the percussion and dance ensemble known as 'Beat the Donkey' Cyro gives free reign to his imagination, mixing his tremendous musical skills, his natural humor and theatrical ways with instruments from Brazil, Middle East, Indonesia, Africa and the US.

Cyro's credits read like a "Who’s Who" of modern music. He has toured extensively with Yo-Yo Ma's Brazil Project, Trey Anastasio's Band (of Phish), John Zorn's Electric Masada, Herbie Hancock's Grammy® award winning "Gershwin’s World,” Sting and Paul Simon's "Rhythm of the Saints."

In addition, he has performed and recorded with such luminaries as David Byrne, Kathleen Battle, Gato Barbieri, Melissa Etheridge, Laurie Anderson, John Zorn, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Bobby McFerrin, Wynton Marsalis, Yo-Yo-Ma, Medeski Martin & Wood, Spyro Gyra, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Santana and Sting.  He has also performed on five Grammy® award winning albums: Yo-Yo-Ma’s "Obrigado Brasil", Cassandra Wilson's "Blue Light 'Til Dawn", The Chieftains' "Santiago", Ivan Lins' "A Love Affair", and Herbie Hancock’s highly-acclaimed "Gershwin's World."

Cyro' first solo recording, “Villa Lobos/Vira Loucos,” a heady mix of his own compositions with the work of the brilliant Brazilian composer Heitor Villa Lobos, has been acclaimed as "the most courageous, bright, funny, dramatic, and imaginative work in recent memory." Cyro has also been composing music for the children's television network Nickelodeon.

In 1985, Romero Lubambo came to the United States, and brought with him a new sound in Brazilian jazz guitar. Romero's guitar playing unites the styles and rhythms of his native Brazilian musical heritage with his fluency in the American jazz tradition to form a distinctive new sound.

From the cool, sophisticated rhythms of his native Brazil to hard bop, Romero is a guitarist who is comfortable in any musical setting. He is an uncommonly gifted soloist and musical improviser with a steady stream of unpredictably creative musical thoughts and the virtuosity to deliver them ever so tastefully. After arriving in New York City, Romero quickly established himself as a "first call" session and touring guitarist who was in demand not only for his authentic Brazilian sound, but also for his command with a variety of styles.

Lubambo has performed and recorded with many outstanding artists, including Dianne Reeves, Michael Brecker, Yo-Yo Ma, Kathleen Battle, Diana Krall, Herbie Mann, Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Elling, Kenny Barron, Sergio and Odair Assad, Grover Washington Jr., Vernon Reid, Flora Purim and Airto, Paquito D'Rivera, Harry Belafonte, Larry Coryell, Gato Barbieri, James Carter, Paula Robison, and Cesar Camargo Mariano... among many others. He has also established himself as a composer and performer on his own critically acclaimed recording projects as well as on those of Trio Da Paz, a Brazilian jazz trio Lubambo formed with Nilson Matta and Duduka da Fonseca.

Romero Lubambo is considered by critics to be "the best practitioner of his craft in the world today... [his] facility, creativity and energy are in a class all their own."

Support for ¡Viva Brazil! has been provided by the Centre College Latin American Studies Program and The Mellon Foundation.