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 Antônio 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. She is also riding high on a wave of international success in France, where the influential Les Inrockuptibles recognized her as one of the top 5 musical revelations of 2005, Holland, and Italy, as well as in Canada, where she was recently the fourth highest-selling artist for the Archambault chain of music shops while simultaneously holding the number 32 slot on the pop charts. Debut album in the U.S. with Six Degrees Records as the first international artist on Starbucks' Hear Music Debut Series. Her album was received with critical praise from NPR's Morning Edition, The Associated Press, Reuters, and many more, hailing her as "…a fresh new face in the Brazilian music scene." Her album has sound scanned over 110,000 copies to date, making her the biggest selling Brazilian artist of 2007. Céu reached unprecedented chart numbers for a Brazilian female artist—1 on Billboard's Heatseekers (New Artist) Chart, 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 1 on Billboard's World Music charts. In 2008, Céu received a Grammy nomination for "Best Contemporary World Music Album" in 2008 for her debut album CéU. In 2009, her critically acclaimed second album Vagarosa reached #2 on the US Billboard's World Music charts. The album has since been nominated for a 2010 Latin Grammy Award for Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album.^[4]

In 2010, Céu was invited by Herbie Hancock to record a version of "Tempo de Amor" for The Imagine Project album.

In 2011, she contributed a version of the track "It's a Long Way" in collaboration with Apollo Nove and N.A.S.A. for the Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album Red Hot + Rio 2. The album is a follow-up to the 1996 Red Hot + Rio.

In 2012, Céu received her fourth Grammy nomination for "Best Contemporary Brazilian Pop Album" for her critically acclaimed third album Caravana Sereia Bloom.

In 2014, she released in Brazil her first live DVD/CD entitled Céu – Ao Vivo, the concert was filmed in August 2014 in São Paulo and contains 15 tracks in total, including the never before released cover versions of all time classics "Piel Canela" and "Mais Uma Noite de Amor", behind the scenes footage of the band and more. Céu - Ao Vivo also includes live versions of Céu's greatest hits, "Lenda", "Malemolência", "10 Contados", "Cangote" and "Baile de Ilusão".

Trivia

• Céu (céu) means "sky" and "heaven" in Portuguese.^[1]
• Booking Agency: Loop Productions (Europe) - The Agency Group (USA, Australia, Japan)
• The song "Malemolência" was featured on the soccer game FIFA 08.^[5]
• 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.^[6]
• Céu performed at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Pan American Games.
• In 2008 Céu formed the São Paulo collective Sonantes with Brazilian musicians and producers Rica Amabis, Gui Amabis, Pupillo, Dengue.
• Céu is one of the rare Brazilian artists who has performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (2010).
• Between 2013 and 2014 Céu performed a series of concerts in Brazil to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the release of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ legendary album Catch a Fire.

Discography

• CéU (2005)
• Remixed EP (2007)
• Vagarosa (2009)
• Caravana Sereia Bloom (2012)
• Céu – Ao Vivo (2014)
• Tropix (2016)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official Web Site
• "CéU's Brazilian Melting Pot", Morning Edition (National Public Radio), 13 April 2007, NPR.org
• [ Biographical Sketch] at SixDegreesRecords.com
• "Singer Ceu brings sexy back to Brazilian music" (Reuters report)
• "CéU: From Brazil with Love", World Cafe (National Public Radio), 30 April 2007, NPR.org
• "Ave Cruz" - free mp3 at music.download.com
• Urban Jungle