Leila Pinheiro

Brazilian Bossa Nova Singer and Pianist

Brazilian Bossa Nova singer, pianist and composer, born on October 16, 1960 in Belém, Brazil. Daughter of harmonica player's Altino Pinheiro, began studying piano at age ten, at the Instituto de Iniciação Musical. In 1974, Leila gives up on music theory classes and goes on to study piano with a countryman, Guilherme Coutinho, talented musician and an important presence in the music scene in Belém. In 1980, she leaves - in the second year - the medical school and in October, opening the first show, Sinal de Partida (conducted at the Theatro da Paz in Belém), where he debuted as a professional singer. In 1981, he moved to Rio de Janeiro where he recorded his first LP, the independent Leila Pinheiro, produced by Raimundo Bittencourt. She toured with the Zimbo Trio in 1984, performing a series of shows on the outside, but the success came when they actually won the singer-revelation in the Festival of Festivals (TV Globo, 1985), where he played the song Verde, which was classified third row and the first successful radio. At the invitation of the then artistic director Roberto Menescal, Leila signed recording contract with Polygram (now Universal Music). The disc marks the debut record that is Olho Nu, which earned him the award for best performer at the World Festival Yamaha. The album, widely praised by critics, won significant selling. The following year, receives the Brazilian Association of Producers Disc (ABPD) Trophy Villa-Lobos, as feminine revelation. Collecting many awards since then continued with two more albums: Alma and especially Bênção Bossa Nova. The latter was launched in celebration of thirty years of bossa nova in Brazil. Produced by Roberto Menescal for the Japanese market, the album sold two hundred thousand copies - mark ever achieved by a disc of this genre of music so far. Thereafter Leila became known as bossa nova singer, label that would be enhanced with the release of the album Isso é Bossa Nova (1994), which marked the debut EMI was the last to have vinyl version. On this record, also released Catavento e Girassol, a tribute to singer-songwriters Guinga and Aldir Blanc, Na Ponta da Língua (1998), who brought songs written by composers beginners and Reencontro (2000), a tribute to singer-songwriters Ivan Lins and Gonzaguinha. In the late '90s did shows with partner and friend Ivan Lins in the United States and also a tribute to Tom Jobim performed in music hall New York Carnegie Hall. Also participated in other special projects, such as a Tributo a Tom Jobim (Som Livre) and Sinfonia do Rio de Janeiro, Francis Hime. In 1998 participated in the Festival Brazilfest alongside Bebel Gilberto, Patricia Marx, Carol Savoie and the chamber group Quintet d'Ellas, a project that was conceived in the acoustic shell of a playhouse New Yorker, Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center of New York (USA). In 2001 he returned to the old label, which released the CD for more things in Brazil, the first live career, also yielded the first DVD. The repertoire brought remakes of old hits and other songs devoted. He moved to the independent Biscoito Fino in 2004, where he recorded the CD Nos Horizontes do Mundo (2005), which was provisionally Hoje - which has title to the album released by Gal Costa. The album's success turned out to generate the eponymous show, where did the latest work of his career: Nos Horizontes do Mundo - Ao Vivo. Among the merits of this account is the second live album and DVD of the singer, after more things from Brazil.