Press release : "My childhood was like a universe of music and creativity, filled with people of great personality" recalls singer Luisa Maita, "That’s my most precious musical treasure". Sultry, seductive and infused with that inimitable samba swing, Luisa’s music embodies the modern spirit of Brazil. With the release of Lero Lero
Inspired by the bustling urban life of her native São Paulo, Lero-Lero has a contemporary vibe that includes influences from alternative pop and downtempo electronic music layered over an acoustic foundation deeply rooted in samba, bossa nova and Brazilian popular music. Fans of Bebel Gilberto, Céu and Seu Jorge will find much to love in Luisa Maita’s tropical, forward-looking sound, and her sensual yet soulful voice begs comparisons with everyone from Billie Holiday and Sade to Feist, St. Vincent and Cat Power.
Luisa has been surrounded by music since birth. Her father Amado Maita, a singer whose one solo album from the 1 970s is coveted by vinyl collectors, named all three of his daughters after songs by bossa nova legend Antonio Carlos Jobim. Luisa’s mother Myriam Taubkin has been an important concert producer and cultural advocate for over thirty years. Luisa spent her early childhood in Bexiga, a diverse, working class neighborhood that was home to Italian and Arab immigrants (Luisa is of European, Jewish, and Syrian Muslim heritage) and migrants from Brazil’s musically rich northeast. Famous for its personality, culture, food and music, Bexiga is home to Vai-Vai, São Paulo’s most traditional samba school, the pulsing echoes of which resonate deeply in Luisa’s memory.
Luisa started singing her father’s songs and bossa nova standards at a very young age, and began recording advertising jingles professionally at the age of seven. As a teenager, Luisa started singing in São Paulo clubs, and joined the group Urbanda, which released an album in 2003. Luisa’s composition “Beleza” (co-written by Rodrigo Campos) was selected as one of the best songs of the year by Rolling Stone Brazil. Lulsa was also recently featured on a widely-viewed promotional video directed by acclaimed filmmaker Fernando Meirelles (City of God) that was used in Brazil’s successful bid for the 2016 Olympics.
Her first album as a solo artist, Lero-Lero, which was co-produced by Paulo Lepetit and Rodrigo Campos, offers songs that encourage her fellow Brazilians to recognize the beauty and deeper meaning of their lives. "Its inspiration comes from the urban life of São Paulo, its ghettos and its people", notes Luisa, "The lyrics and the aura of the album focus on the peculiarities of Brazilian daily life, culture and human condition".
The magnetic title track, "Lero-Lero" is a deconstructed samba that shares a portrait of deep friendship in the ghettos of São Paulo. "Fulaninha", a funky baiao crossed with traces of Jamaican dancehall, talks about the fear and desire that comes with choosing which road to follow in life and the struggle to realize your dreams. "Desencahulada", a traditional samba with a funk beat, is a tribute to Brazilian women and tells of girl from the Rio de Janeiro hills losing herself in the music at a baile funk dance.
As a believer in self-knowledge as a guide, Lero-Lero is filled with a relaxed yet energizing spirit that reflects Lulsa’s personal artistic expression and outlook. “The album travels through themes that encourage Brazilians to wake up to a new life: dreams; passion; labor; the struggle for peace; interior acceptance.” In a country overflowing with musical accomplishment, Luisa Malta demonstrates with Lero-Lero that she has the talent to rise above the fray and make a mark as one of Brazil’s most engaging young voices.
Lero-Lero is being released as part of the Cumbancha Discovery line, which seeks to introduce exceptional new talent to a wider international audience.
LUISA MAlTA MANAGEMENT: Juliano M. Polimeno, Phonobase, Tel: +55 ii 3865.9922 / Email:juliano@phonobase.com www.phonobase.com
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