Monica Vasconcelos "Rise Up And Dance - Brazilian Freedom Songs"

Originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, singer Monica Vasconcelos has been bringing the carnival beats of Brazilian music to UK audiences for more than 20 years. A feisty and charismatic performer, with her Brazilian-inspired band Nois she has played festivals and Club dates throughout Europe, including gigs opposite the likes of Bryan Ferry, Airto Moreira and Flora Purim, Joyce, Gilberto Gil and Courtney Pine. She has toured the UK with Brazilian master guitarist Guinga as well including work with Brazilian bossa nova icons João Donato and Marcos Valle. Her festival appearances give some idea of the respect with which she is held on the UK Latin scene, including appearances at The Barbican, Womad, Brecon, Cheltenham and the City of London Festivals as well as Southport and The Sage International Jazz Festivals. She has 7 albums to her name to date, and to give some idea of how good she is the iconic UK music legend Robert Wyatt asked her to perform with him on his album "Comicopera". It was Monica's band, the London Bossa Collective, that played a moving concert in Trafalgar Square to celebrate the opening of the World Cup in 2014 and in that same month she won Gold at the New York Festival's International Radio Programme Awards for the documentary "The Secret History of Bossa Nova", which she presented on BBC Radio 4. Tonight Monica will featuring music from her most recent project "The São Paulo Tapes", a selection of songs written by some of some of the giants of Brazilian popular music as a response to the military dictatorship that took over the country between 1964 and 1985. The band is a groove-based project that fuses the country's energetic upbeat dance rhythms, celebrating Brazil's rich musical diversity with a wide range of styles from samba and bossa nova to baião and xote. Appearing with Monica this evening will be a band comprised of some of the finest exponents of Brazilian music in Europe, including Steve Lodder on keyboards, Kaw Regis on guitar, Andrés Lafone on bass and Marius Rodrigues on drums. Promises to be quite an evening...

"[her] voice is charming and tuneful, but with an element of reticence and taste...Vasconcelos has class" Guardian; "The aural equivalent of the sun on your face" Sunday Tribune