Céu
CéU (spelled with the uppercase "U" and pronounced IPA: [sɛw]), whose full name is Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças,[1] is a Brazilian singer-songwriter whose first American album was released on the Six Degrees label in April 2007. Born around 1980 into a musical São Paulo, Brazil, family, her father being a composer, arranger and musicologist. It was from her father that she learned to appreciate Brazil's classical music composers, particularly Heitor Villa-Lobos, Ernesto Nazaré and Orlando Silva.
By age fifteen she had decided to become a musician and by her late teens she had studied music theory, as well as the violão (nylon-stringed Brazilian guitar). Her songs reveal her many influences, which include samba, valsa, choro, soul, rhythm and blues, hip hop, afrobeat and electrojazz music.
As CéU herself explained, "I have a passion for Black culture, from Jazz divas to Afro beat. Everything comes from Africa. With Samba, I have a very strong connection to the old school that we call 'Samba de raiz' (Root Samba). I am a vinyl listener, so I tried to bring some of that to the CD, mixing it with modern things like rap or even 'Brega', which is the newest thing in Brazil."[2]
In particular, she cites as influences the music of Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Lauren Hill, and Erykah Badu.
Major U.S. record labels approached CéU about re-releasing her 2005 album (originally issued on the Sao Paulo indie label Urban Jungle), but she refused, preferring to sign with the smaller Six Degrees label, which offered her more artistic freedom.
In 2006 she received a Latin Grammy nomination for “best new artist” of that year.
Outside of South America, she has sizeable fan bases in France, Holland, Italy, and Canada, where one of her songs reached number 32 on the Canadian pop music charts.
Trivia
- CéU (céu) means "sky" in Portuguese.[3]
- Starbucks has promoted her album in its coffeehouses through its Hear Music Debut CD series. She is the first international artist chosen by Starbucks for promotion.[4]
References
- ^ David Dye, "CéU: From Brazil with Love," World Cafe (National Public Radio), 30 April 2007, on NPR.org.
- ^ "Singer Ceu brings sexy back to Brazilian music" (Reuter's report), 20 April 2007.
- ^ David Dye, "CéU: From Brazil with Love," World Cafe (National Public Radio), 30 April 2007, on NPR.org.
- ^ CéU's Biographical Sketch at SixDegreesRecords.com.
Sources
- Official CéU Web Site (UK)
- "CéU's Brazilian Melting Pot," Morning Edition (National Public Radio), 13 April 2007, NPR.org
- CéU's Biographical Sketch at SixDegreesRecords.com
- "Singer Ceu brings sexy back to Brazilian music" (Reuters report)
- David Dye, "CéU: From Brazil with Love," World Cafe (National Public Radio), 30 April 2007, NPR.org