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Tania Maria has had a long and passionate love affair with music. Born into a family of amateur musicians’ family in Sao Luis, northwestern Brazil she began studying the piano at the age of 7 and was just 13 when she was the hands-down first-prize winner in a regional competition as the leader of a group started by her father. At the time, bossa nova was all the rage from Rio to New York, adding a peppery touch to jazz like exotic local spice. Just three years later, however, this talented young woman with a bright future tried to distance herself from music by studying law. Her fingers continued to yearn for the piano, however, and she finally gave into its insisted call, committing herself to music with more fervour than ever. After shuttling between gigs in Rio and Sao Paolo, she recorded her first album at the age 20, for Warner.
As early as 1969, her first musical performance clearly showed her potential and her predilections: an astonishing mix of Brazilian rhythms and jazz harmonies, underpinning a remarkable natural gift for spinning sophisticated melodies after 36 years and 25 albums, and by way of such run away hits as “Piquant,” “Come with Me,” and “Made in New York,” Tania Maria stands our as one of the truly great talents on the Brazilian music scene, where she is known a for the unmistakable voice, whose sultry low tones can lay down a serious groove, and for her percussive touch at the piano, were things can suddenly take a more classical turn. She has also done a lot of travelling in her time, from the Paris nightlife of the 1970s, where she met Claude Nougaro, to the New York fusion years in the 1980s; she has lives in both cities and both continue to live in her. She’s also taken part in virtually every jazz festival in the world, from Montreux to New Orleans, Tokyo and Nice. Tania Maria is an accomplished musician, who though always attracted to swing and jazz, has never forgotten the fundamental beasts of her native choro and samba.
And now in 2005 she is back in full force with “Intimidate” a new album that on a single disk manages to brilliantly combine both sides of her musical personality-which, in turn, are reflected by two of her backup musicians: Master bassist Eddie Gomez and Mestre Carneiro on percussion.
| Artist Name | Instrument | Website |
|---|---|---|
| Tania Maria | Vocals, Keyboards | http://www.taniamaria.org/ |
| Marc Bertaux | Guitar Bass | |
| Caio Membreti | Drums | |
| Edmundo Carniero | Percussion |