Claudia Villela

Inspired to sing from hearing the intoxicating sounds emanating from the samba school behind her grandmother’s house, Villela began singing professionally as a teen and eventually moved to the Bay Area. 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. She blends the ever-present samba of her native Brazil with jazz, blues, and songs from around the globe, inspiring the iconic San Francisco Chronicle critic Phil Elwood to enthuse, “Villela doesn't just sing – she actually dances with her voice on top of Brazilian beats.”

Known to SFJAZZ audiences for her intoxicating salutes to composer Antônio Carlos Jobim, vocalist Elis Regina, and the classic Stan Getz/João Gilberto album Getz/Gilberto with saxophonist Harvey Wainapel, Villela has released three scintillating albums.