Singer /actress Thalma de Freitas in the only Brazilian nominated for the 2020 Grammy Awards; artist is recognized for her collaboration on the album Sorte! with American musician John Finbury
EP “Sorte!” will compete in the category of Best Latin Jazz Album
On Wednesday morning, the Grammy Awards nominations of 2020, were released. The 45 year old Thalma de Freitas is the only representative of Brazil on the list. Her album Sorte, will compete in the category of Best Latin Jazz album.
The disc is the result of a partnership with American composer John Finbury and features six tracks: “Sorte!”, “Filha”, “Ondas”, “Maio, “Oração” and “Surrealismo Tropical”. All songs feature Thalma on vocals in Portuguese, with the singer also being responsible for the lyrical composition.
The Freitas/Finbury disc with compete with a number of veteran performers, including Chick Corea & The Spanish Heart Band’s album Antidote, Una Noche con Rubén Blades by Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis & Rubén Blades, Carib by David Sánchez and Sonero: The Music Of Ismael Rivera, by Miguel Zenón.
The Freitas/Finbury disc was produced by Emilio D. Miler, a winner of a Latin Grammy, and features a number of prominent Brazilian musicians such as Chico Pinheiro on guitar, Vitor Gonçalves on piano, Airto Moreira and Rogério Bocatto on percussion, Duduka da Fonseca on drums as well as the American bassist, John Patitucci.
Thalma de Freitas is not top list star in Brazil, but she is well-known. A Carioca, meaning she’s from Rio, you could say she has music in her blood as her father is legendary pianist and conductor Laércio de Freitas. As an actress she’s appeared in movies, and had roles on both television as well as on theatre stages.
In the dramaturgy, Thalma has received the best supporting actress Kikito at the Gramado Film Festival. A few of her novela (soap opera) appearances include Laços de Família and O Clone, while film credentials include roles in the films O Xangô de Baker Street and Joel Zito Araújo’s As Filhas do Vento. Thalma defines herself as a “freed artist” and brings in her works references to black culture and art.
Freitas began her professional career as a singer in the 1990s in musical shows. In 1996, Thalma released the single “Eu Quero Tanta Coisa” and the self-titled album Thalma with references to R&B and Dance Music. As a multi-talented artist, Thalma since released three albums since 1996, and then a fourth with the big band Orquestra Imperial.
Since her entry on the music scene, she’s collaborated with a who’s who of Brazil’s top-selling artists, showing off her songwriting skills along the way with the likes of famed singer/musicians such as MPB legends Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, João Donato, a newer representative of Brazilian Popular Music, Céu, as well as American saxophonist/bandleader, Kamasi Washington, among others. Based in Los Angeles since 2012, she lives with her usband, photographer Brian Cross and their daughter Gaelle and is active in the music scene.
John Finbury took the Latin music scene by storm in 2016, earning a Latin Grammy nomination in the category of “Song Of The Year” for “A Chama Verde” taken from his album Imáginario. Finbury wasn’t exactly well-known to fans of Latin American music at the time, but the graduate of Boston University and the Longy School of Music has been a composer for more than 40 years. He followed up Imáginario with Pitanga, in 2017. Sounds a like guy who knows hs fair share about Brazil. Pitanga is of course a fruit that comes in red, yellow, orange or black and is also a city the southern state of Paraná. But the term pitanga is perhaps best known these days as being the last name of long time actor Antônio Pitanga and his actress daughter, Camila Pitanga.
The Grammy Award ceremony is scheduled for January 26 in the Staples Center, in Los Angeles and will be broadcast on CBS
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