Sylvia Telles

Silvia Telles (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈsiwvia ˈtɛlis]; August 27, 1934 – December 17, 1966) was a Brazilian jazz samba and bossa nova singer of the 1950s and 1960s.

Life

She was born in 1934 and she had the ambition to be a ballet dancer. She studied with Madeleine Rosay at the Teatro Municipal's corp de ballet in Rio de Janeiro, but she would also practice singing and playing the piano.

Telles preceded the advent of bossa nova, and began covering songs by such influential composers as Antonio Carlos Jobim, and worked with others such as Luiz Bonfá. She also did several tribute albums to Antonio Carlos Jobim. One of the most famous classic bossa nova songs was written for her by Jobim, its namesake her nickname - "Dindi".

By the early 1960s, she had made her first trip to the United States, recording U.S.A. with Barney Kessel (among others) for Philips. Her husband, producer Aloysio de Oliveira, proved instrumental in her later signing to Odeon and Elenco, two labels where he worked. Telles had just recorded her second tribute to Jobim, 1966's The Music of Mr. Jobim (or Sings the Wonderful Songs of Antonio Carlos Jobim), when she was killed in a car accident at the age of 32. Telles is the mother of singer, musician and songwriter Claudia Telles, born August 26, 1957.

Discography

• Carícia (Odeon, 1957)
• Silvia (Odeon, 1958)
• Amor De Gente Moça: Musicas De Antonio Carlos Jobim (Odeon, 1959)
• Amor Em Hi-Fi (Philips, 1960)
• U.S.A. (Philips, 1961)
• Bossa Balanço Balada (Elenco, 1963)
• Bossa Session (Elenco, 1964) - with Lúcio Alves and Roberto Menescal e seu conjunto
• It Might As Well Be Spring (Elenco, 1966) - U.S. release: The Face I Love (Kapp Records)
• The Music Of Mr. Jobim By Sylvia Telles (Elenco, 1966) - U.S. release: Sylvia Telles Sings The Wonderful Songs Of Antonio Carlos Jobim (Kapp Records)
• Reencontro (Elenco, 1966) - with Edu Lobo, Trio Tamba, and Quinteto Villa-Lobos