- Maria Rita
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Maria Rita 
Maria Rita performing at Virada Cultural in 2009.Background information Birth name Maria Rita Mariano Born September 19, 1977
São Paulo, BrazilOrigin São Paulo, Brazil Genres MPB, Jazz, Samba Instruments Voice Years active 2001–present Labels Warner Latina
Wea InternationalWebsite www.maria-rita.com Maria Rita (Portuguese pronunciation: [maˈɾiɐ ˈʁitɐ]; born September 19, 1977, in São Paulo, Brazil) is the performance name of Maria Rita Mariano, a Brazilian singer. She is the daughter of famed pianist/arranger César Camargo Mariano and the late Brazilian singing legend Elis Regina and sister to Pedro Mariano and music producer João Marcelo Bôscoli. Her namesake is family friend and famed Brazilian rock legend Rita Lee. Maria Rita majored in Latin American studies and communications at New York University, and worked as a journalist at a magazine for adolescents. "Rita" is pronounced "Hee-ta".
Maria Rita began singing professionally at the age of 24, although she had wanted to sing since she was 14. Her first CD, Maria Rita, launched her career symbolically, with the first cut on her first album, A Festa (The Party), being written by Milton Nascimento, a Brazilian singer-songwriter whose career was launched by Maria Rita's mother, Elis Regina. The CD went platinum and was a hit worldwide, making her an international star. Her mother's reputation as one of Brazil's greatest female singers has been a major influence in Maria Rita's life although she respectfully avoids the songs identified with her mother; she has said that she was always conscious of being the only daughter of a great singer. Despite having her mother's vocal DNA, she has developed her own jazzy vocal style, with singers like Ella Fitzgerald as her model.
She won the 2004 Latin Grammy Awards for Best New Artist in the General Field, Best Song in Portuguese (“A festa”) and her debut album Maria Rita won the Best MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) Album award for that year. The world hit that “Segundo” turned out to be, granted her in 2006, two additional Grammys Latinos – Best MPB Album and Best Brazilian Song with “Caminho das Águas” authored by Rodrigo Maranhão – and over 50 shows abroad, with full public and reviews acceptance in the Montreux Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Irving Plaza (NY), San Francisco Jazz Festival, among others.
Maria Rita was nominated for the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music in 2008. On 28 June 2008, Maria Rita performed in London for the first time, with a production by Tuba Productions and JungleDrums Magazine.
Contents
Discography
- 2003 - Maria Rita (Warner Latina) (750,000 sold in Brazil), with follow-on "Maria Rita" DVD, recorded live in São Paulo at Bourbon Street
- 2005 - Segundo (Warner Latina) (250,000 sold in Brazil), with follow-on "Segundo" DVD, recorded live in 3 venues.
- 2007 - Samba Meu (Wea International) (190,000 sold in Brazil), with follow-on "Maria Rita: Samba Meu" DVD, recorded live in Rio de Janeiro.
- 2011 - Milton Nascimento on his CD "Pieta" singing a duet on "Tristesse", which also won a Latin Grammy in 2003. She recently appeared with Uruguayan 2004 Grammy Award Winner Jorge Drexler on his CD "12 Segundos de Oscuridad" singing a duet on "Soledad". She is a big fan of and has appeared live in cameo with the Brazilian rap/hip-hop group O Rappa.
References
- This article incorporates material translated from the Maria Rita article on the Portuguese language Wikipedia.
Awards and nominations
Latin Grammy
2004 Result Album of the Year - Maria Rita Nominated Record of the Year - A Festa Nominated Best New Artist Won Best MPB Album - Maria Rita Won Best Brazilian Song - A Festa (Award Went to Milton Nascimento) Won 2006 Result Best MPB Album - Segundo Won Best Brazilian Song - Caminho das Águas (Award Went to Rodrigo Maranhão) Won 2008 Result Best Samba/Pagode Album - Samba Meu Won1 Prêmio Multishow de Música Brasileira
2003 Result Best New Artist (Solo) Nominated 2004 Result Best Album - Maria Rita Nominated Best Female Singer Won Best Song - A Festa (by Milton Nascimento) Nominated Best DVD - Maria Rita Nominated Best Show Nominated 2008 Result Best Album - Samba Meu Won Best Female Singer Nominated Best Song - Tá Perdoado Nominated 1Tied with Paulinho da Viola for MTV Unplugged
External links
Categories:- 1977 births
- Living people
- Brazilian people of Portuguese descent
- Brazilian female singers
- Brazilian singers
- Latin Grammy Award winners
- Música Popular Brasileira singers
- People from São Paulo (city)
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