In 2003, Warner Music organized a major marketing campaign to promote the launch of her debut album in Brasil. Expectations surrounding the daughter of Elis Regina were enormous, and the album Maria Rita was a great success.

The Brasilian singer’s third album had only just been released in the UK when it was already nominated in the ‘Africa’ and ‘Americas’ category of the 2008 BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music. The album Samba Meu, as the name suggests, is a journey
through the world of Brasilian samba. “I enjoy singing samba”, reveals the artist.

The daughter of acclaimed chanteuse Elis Regina says that she doesn’t cave under pressure and follows her instincts. “I want to make music for the masses”, reveals the 30 year old Paulista. On her two previous albums, the singer’s repertoire consisted of jazz and MPB (Popular Brasilian Music) and focussed on her vocal prowess.

“I think that MPB is very elitist, it’s still made for a select few”, she explains. The changes don’t stop there. She’s cast aside her discrete image; blonder and sexier, the extroverted, chatty singer talked to JungleDrums about Samba Meu and her falling in love with drumming.

Read the rest of this article on JungleDrums or find out how to book tickets…