5 things you should know about
Claudia Villela

November 8, 2023 | by Rusty Aceves

Claudia Villela

We anxiously await the return of Brazilian vocalist, pianist, and songwriter Claudia Villela to the Joe Henderson Lab this week. To prepare for her week of duo shows, here are five things you should know:

1. Her path to becoming a major figure in Brazilian music started early.
   “A Brazilian-born genius with a blistering voice” (JazzTimes), Claudia Villela was inspired to sing from hearing the intoxicating sounds emanating every night from the samba school behind her grandmother’s house in Rio de Janeiro and the music that was a constant presence in her home. “I woke up to the sound of my mother singing while my father played the harmonica," she recalls. "My singing is the sum of all the music I've heard, from Brazilian baroque to bossa nova to free jazz, the nostalgic and modern. It comes from all those memories."
2. She has had a remarkable career as a vocalist and pianist.
   Villela began singing professionally as a teen and eventually moved to the Bay Area in 1984, working with the Stanford University Chorus and later the De Anza College Jazz Singers, who won DownBeat Magazine’s jazz vocal competition the year she joined. A scholarship to New York’s Manhattan School of Music and studies with the legendary Sheila Jordan cemented Villela’s jazz credentials, and she returned to California as an artist on a mission to create fresh, original music born of her Brazilian upbringing and passion for jazz. Inspired by Brazilian songwriters, composers and multi-instrumentalists such as Egberto Gismonti, Hermeto Pascoal and Milton Nascimento, Villela draws on a vast range of Brazilian traditions, from samba and bossa nova to the carnival groove partido alto, and baião, a highly syncopated northeastern song form popularized by Luiz Gonzaga in the mid-1940s. As San Francisco Examiner jazz critic Phil Elwood put it, "Villela actually dances with her voice on top of Brazilian beats."
3. She has recorded seven superb albums.
   The vocalist made her debut as a solo artist with 1996’s Asa Verde — a remarkably assured session that earned her a Jazz Singer of the Year nomination from NAIRD.
   She released her seventh album, Cartas ao Vento for Tania Music, in September of this year, marking the first time she has made a recording in Brazil. Recorded during a family visit in Rio, the album features several of the greatest names in Brazilian music, including guitarists Romero Lubambo and Toninho Horta along with wind players Zé Nogueira and Edu Neves.
4. She has collaborated with legendary artists.
   It is often said that one can judge an artist by the company they keep, and Villela’s list of collaborators alone attests to her greatness. Her 1996 release Supernova features appearances by the late saxophone legend Michael Brecker and bassist Harvie S along with Brazilian guitar virtuoso Toninho Horta.
   Her 2003 session Inverse Universe was recorded in duet with guitarist and longtime collaborator Ricardo Peixoto and features and appearance by the late harmonica master Toots Thielemans, and 2004’s DreamTales was a duo project with jazz piano great Kenny Werner.
   She has appeared as a guest artist on releases by Jeff Linsky, Victor Fields, and the VW Brothers, among others.
   Most recently, Villela worked with the iconic Brazilian vocalist Flora Purim and percussionist Airto Moreira on Purim’s 2022 release If You Will, writing and performing on the recording of the song “Zahuroo.”
5. She returns for a special week at SFJAZZ.
   In that same spirit of collaboration, Villela returns to the Joe Henderson Lab for four nights in a series of intimate duets. The first, on Thursday 11/9, reunites her with guitarist Ricardo Peixoto, her duo partner on the 2003 album Inverse Universe.
   Friday 11/10 is a duet with saxophonist Gary Meek, known widely as a bandleader and for his work with Airto and Flora Purim, Jeff Lorber, Brian Bromberg, and Dave Weckl.
   Villela concludes her residency on Saturday 11/11 and Sunday 11/12 with pianist and accordionist Vitor Gonçalves, renowned for his work with Hermeto Pascoal, Anat Cohen, Vinicius Cantuária, and Cyro Baptista as well as his own projects.
   "I rely on intuition, I don't go for the premeditated, calculated thing when I'm performing," Villela says. "I like the aspect of losing myself, of going into the unknown. I'll just take the conditions of this moment and make something of it. It can turn out to be magical. I'll hit a moment that has a mysterious, nurturing, confessional feeling. People really get it."

Claudia Villela performs 11/9-12 in the Joe Henderson Lab. Tickets and more information are available here.