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Tania Maria Quartet

Biography:

Tania Maria has had a long and passionate love affair with music. Born into a
family of amateur musicians in Sao Luis, northwestern Brazil, she began
studying the piano at the age of seven 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 an 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 in to its insistent call, committing
herself to music with more fervour than ever. After shuttling between gigs in
Rio and Sao Paulo, she recorded her first album at the age of 20, for Warner. As
early as 1969, her first musical performances clearly showed her potential and
her predilections: an astounding 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 runaway hits as 'Piquant',
'Come With Me' and 'Made In New York', Tania Maria stands out as one of the
truly great talents on the Brazilian music scene, where she is known for her
unmistakable voice, whose sultry low tones can lay down a serious groove, and
for her percussive touch at the piano, where things can suddenly take a more
classical turn. She has also done a lot of traveling 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 lived in both cities, and both continue to live in her.
She's also taken part in virtually every major 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 beats of her native choro and samba. In 2005, she's back in
full force with 'Intimidade', 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.

Discography:

1969 Apresentamos Tania Maria - Warner (Brazil)
1971 Olha quem chega - Odeon/EMI
1975 Via Brazil (with Boto and Helio) vol. 1
1975 Via Brazil (with Boto and Helio) vol. 2
1978 Live at Jazzhus Montmartre, Copenhagen - Baystate (JP)
1978 Brazil with My Soul - Barclay
1979 Tania Maria & Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen - Medley
1981 Piquant - Concord Jazz
1982 Taurus - Concord Jazz
1983 Come with Me - Concord Jazz
1984 Love Explosion - Concord Jazz
1986 The Wild! - Concord Jazz
1987 Made in New York - EMI
1988 Lady from Brazil - EMI
1989 Forbidden Colors - Capitol
1990 Bela Vista - World Pacific
1993 Outrageous - Concord
1995 Alive & Cooking - Westwind
1995 No Comment - TKM
1996 Bluesilian - TKM
1997 Europe - TKM
1999 The Very Best of Tania Maria - Nascente
2000 Viva Brazil - Concord Jazz
2001 Viva Maria - Concord Jazz
2002 Live at the Blue Note - Concord Jazz
2005 Intimidate - Blue Note
2012 Tempo - Naiv

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