Speaking with Brazilian jazz singer Luciana Souza felt like a trip home. When you get two Latinas together the conversation comes fast and furious, and our recent phone interview was no exception. As my fingers skittered across the keyboard, attempting to capture at least some of the insights of this brilliant artist, I felt as if I were running across the top of the energetic notes of “Sai Dessa,” the first song on her latest album. I could only imagine the breakneck speed if I could have spoken to her in her native Portuguese, a lyrical language I plan to hear a lot more of at her upcoming concert where she will perform Brazilian music from her Grammy-nominated album, Duos II.
Luciana Souza (pronounced SOH-za) was born in 1966 in São Paolo, Brazil, the daughter of two well-known musicians. She began her own career at the age of three recording jingles, and hasn’t stopped since. She went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in jazz composition from Berklee College of Music and a master’s degree in jazz studies from New England Conservatory.
By now she has lived longer in the US than she has in Brazil, and considers herself a Brazilian-American. “It is the way I sound, sing, the way I see the world. Leaving Brazil was the big shock, but by now the majority of my adult life has been spent in the U.S. and I have been affected by everything that happens here: it has helped form and shape me. I’ve absorbed what I think of as the good things: freedom of speech, a system of honor, of being responsible. In Brazil, because of the corruption of the justice system we don’t call people to their word the way people do here. Things are more elastic there. And I am so influenced by the music here. I’m a sponge, but always through a Brazilian filter.”
With her latest album, Duos II, she chose to return to the music of her homeland. She felt the choice was part of the natural progression of her work. “It is all so cyclical, and this collection of Brazilian songs has been an ongoing project for me. Brazilian music is so… naked: here’s the song, my voice, the sound of the guitar. It is in many ways the most natural project as it takes me back home.”
Souza is strongly influenced by her musical parents. “My Dad is still alive and plays guitar everyday.” In fact, she included a previously un-recorded song of her parents entitled “Voce” on this album. “I’m always trying to pay homage to my parents. Not only do I love them, but they are dedicated musicians. I have enormous respect for them. Even if people don’t understand the words, their songs are very ethereal.”
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