Celia Mara was born July 27, 1961 in Pedra Azul, a small town in Minas Gerais near the Bahian border, in Brazil. The area is one of today’s poorest regions in the world and of the richest in minerals. Celia Mara grew up with music. “I remember my mother and sisters singing all day long.”
Macumba drums and samba rhythms as well as the introverted folklore of Minas Gerais, the popular telenovela songs and the Tropicalia have accompanied her since childhood and have formed her musical style.
She started to sing as a six year old, over the roof-tops of Pedra Azul, her home-town. At 12, she studied at her friend’s homes how to play a guitar. At 14, she made her debut on stage with her own compositions. When she turned 19, she participated as the first female singer of her region to a supra-regional festival, coming out from the socio-cultural movement festiVale. She performed in Belo Horizonte, center of the new Brazilian music. TV-appearances and gigs in major jazz clubs, theatres and festivals followed, from Belo Horizonte to Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Salvador. She gave her voice to the left parties for the first elections after military dictatorship, was always engaged in social movements. In 1990, after a concert in Bahia, she was invited to play in Switzerland.
Emigration
Celia Mara started performing in small jazz clubs, festivals followed. But most importantly she discovered the European jazz scene and worked for the first time with European musicians. She played frequently, whether in Germany (for example at the Jazzfestival Burghausen), in Italy and in Austria. In fall 1992, she chose Austria’s Salzburg as her new home base and played in duo with German musician Heli Punzenberger, an excellent guitar player. “To discover Europe at my own pace. And to learn to understand its people.”
Celia Mara composed her first European songs: hot, melancholic samba-jazz fusions. She played with Austrian and Brazilian musicians. Soon, she became well known and performed at international festivals, as opening group for Abdullah Ibrahim, Airto Moreira & Flora Purim, played her own concerts and was a guarantor for an enthusiastic audience. To get new energy, she returned to Brazil in 1996, back to Samba and rhythm – with funk and jazz on her mind. In Salvador, she composed and recorded some new songs for her CD, Hot Couture do Samba. The arrangements were made by Salvador’s Leteres Leite, later musical director of Daniela Mercury and Ivete Sangalo – “a fantastic musician.” At the end of 1996, she returned to Vienna – her new home town – with a strong tool in hand: a new vision of Brazilian music.
A new home base
In 1997, she founded the band potenciaX , where samba met funk and jazz. In December of 1997 she completed the independent production of the CD Hot Couture do Samba (released in 1998) – which opened her the way to the Austrian Broadcasting Company (national Radio & TV) – where her songs get continuous airplay since then.
In 1998 and 1999 she performed Hot Couture do Samba at the main Austrian festivals and concert-halls.
In 1999, she produced the benefit-CD Necessario, released in January 2000, a collection of MPB (musica popular brasileira) – with songs of by Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque and herself. Necessario is a live-recording of the benefit concert Jazz for Kosovo. All songs Celia Mara presented were dedicated to the question of human rights, a global appeal against war. The net sales benefit went to the project help4favelas – give girls a chance, Nika Jaina in Rio de Janeiro, a youth targeted education program in a favela.
In 2000 she was been elected in Austria’s Concerto-Poll, a selection of public and journalists, best world music artist. Her live performance impressed, but Celia Mara was not completely satisfied with her musical output. She had something on her mind, but nobody understood.
In 2001 she started to experiment with an Apple G3 and the audio-program Logic. Together with her friend Sweet Susie, resident DJ DubClub / Flex / Vienna, they learned how to build up grooves, how to arrange electronically, exchanged their different visions of music and dedicated time to stay indoors and start producing.
In 2002 the first Logic-Release came out: the soundtrack to the documentary Salgueiro Queens relative citizenship (best video production at black international cinema 2003 / Berlin).
Together with ethnologist Silvia Santangelo Jura, she produced the event Culture is our Weapon to build up a mental relation between Brazilian racism and Austrian segregation. It brought her the Herta Pammer Preis 2003 for innovative social and global education.
But Celia Mara needed to go back to Brazil again. She went to Salvador (Bahia), mostly to relax, get Brazilian vibes again and to organize an artist casting for UNESCO / cultural industries workshop, analyzing at the local scene.
In 2003 she worked on her new songs, composing, arranging and also did some teaching: “The computer as an arranging tool for singer/songwriters” at the UNESCO / IMZ creative industries workshop for Latin American artists 2003 in Salvador. 2004 was dedicated to studies and developing and producing the new bastardista project, which was released in May 2005.
Bastard sound out of the Brazilian diaspora
With her program Bastardista, Celia Mara entered straight ahead in the Top 10 of the European World Music Charts, climbed up the play lists all over Europe and Russia, was ranked various times among the best of the year, best of the week selections in different countries and got amazing reviews in the international music-press.
Celia Mara won as well the 2006 Brazilian culture export award Copa da Cultura, Brazil in Germany. With her live project, she performed on various huge festivals in Europe (like the Africa-festival in Wurzburg, Zeltival/Karlsruhe, Sabor de Samba/Offenburg or Sunsplash/Wiesen) and at major festivals in Russia (Ethnoland, Moscow).
She provided her voice against homophobia and racial discrimination at Berlins CSD for 400.000 people, presented her bastardista songs during the carnival in Brazil as well as in exclusive clubs between London, Moscow and Prague. And, highlighting the bastardista live-tour, she performed at the fabulous Vienna Opera house, during the Jazzfest Vienna, sharing the stage with legendary Omara Portuondo.
Discography
Hot Couture do samba (1998)
Necessàrio (20000
Bastardista (2005)
Santa Rebeldia (2008)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
