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Tania Maria - Pianist, Singer, Composer, Arranger, Bandleader
Internationally renowned for her exhilarating vocals and keyboard artistry, Tania Maria's music is a stylish combination of jazz, funk, Afro-Cuban elements, and the popular music of her native Brazil. She has created an eclectic fusion that is her own unique brand of jazz and appeals to audiences around the world. Maria’s raw alto has set her apart in the jazz world, her voice sounding sometimes bossa songstress, sometimes Brazilian soul singer.
Tania Maria was born in Sao Luis in the north of Brazil, in the heart of a family who practiced music with great enthusiasm. She quickly became sensitive to Brazilian tempo and rhythm. Beginning the piano at the age of 7, she finds herself six years later as the leader of a band who wins first prize in a local contest. She developed her own masterful synthesis of what she heard an effervescent style of piano work and rapid-tongued vocals in arrangements that fuse Brazilian rhythms and Caribbean salsa with the improvised expression that is the heart of American jazz.
Although 6 years of classical study underlie her solid piano technique, Tania Maria's highly praised vocal skills came naturally, I'm Brazilian, she says, and singing is the greatest tradition we have!. Well known for ebullient scat singing, she identifies herself primarily as a pianist. I play percussion on my piano, she explains, rather than smooth runs up and down scales. And she often scats in unison or harmony with the notes that flow from her touch, soaring beyond the constraints of words.
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