Texto O céu

Céu

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Céu

Céu @ sesc pompéia.jpg

Céu live in São Paulo on Aug 13, 2009. Photo by Ariel Martini.

Background information

Birth name Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças

Born April 17, 1980 (age 34)

Origin São Paulo, Brazil

Genres MPB, bossa nova, soul

Occupations singer/songwriter

Labels Urban Jungle, Six Degrees Records

Website Céu

Céu (Portuguese pronunciation: [sɛu]), 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 Records label in April 2007. She was born in São Paulo, Brazil on April 17, 1980, into a musical 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 Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Lauryn Hill, and Erykah Badu, as well as the Brazilian Jorge Ben.[3]

Céu was performing onstage with major artists and exploring the repertoire of the marchinhas (turn-of-the-century carnival music) by her late teens. Soon after that she relocated temporarily to New York City, where she had a chance meeting with fellow Brazilian musician Antonio Pinto, who became her flat mate while he was going through some financial difficulties. She later learned that he was actually a distant cousin, and their relationship was renewed when he teamed up with lead producer Beto Villares, composer of the musical score for the movie O Ano em que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias (2007) to help her record her album. Pinto, who produced Céu's song "Ave Cruz" is the composer of the musical score for two Oscar Nominated films, Central Station (film) (1999) and City of God (2002).

Originally issued in 2005 on the São Paulo-based Urban Jungle, Céu was picked up by Six Degrees/Starbucks/Hear Music in the US and UK, JVC in Japan and Harmonia Mundi in France and in the Netherlands. Céu received a Latin Grammy nomination for “best new artist” of 2006 and a Grammy nomination for "Best Contemporary World Music Album." of 2007.