Celia Malheiros

October 27, 2010

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For almost twenty five years, Celia Malheiros has resided in the San Francisco Bay Area, and most summers she returns to her native Brazil to perform in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo with many of the extraordinary artists who have recorded with her including Hermeto Pascoal and Joao Bosco.

Celia was born in Rio de Janeiro, a place where music and dance are paramount in the culture. Celia was immersed and surrounded by music as a child and she picked up the guitar and accompanied her mother who loved to sing. She developed her own fingerings, and began to play chords, loving the feel and sound of the guitar. Then, she began to learn the cavaquinho, an instrument similar to the ukulele, and took it wherever she went, leading her into the world of improvising and composing

Malheiros quickly fit into San Francisco musical scene. She began to perform and compete in San Francisco’s popular street carnaval, garnering music awards for sambas enredos (themed sambas). She later became musical director, arranger, and performer at San Francisco’s annual Carnaval Ball, the most successful indoor carnaval event on the West Coast of the United States. She founded and directed the Brazilian All Star Band, a twenty-five-piece band that featured stars like Elza Soares, Emilinha Borba, and Walter Wanderley. Her own band, Brazil Ja, enjoyed praise and popularity. Brasil Ja shared the bill with renowned Brazilian classical guitarist Carlos Barbosa Lima, as well as Brazil’s very popular group Azimuth. Malheiros also performed with the group Batucaje throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, and other locations, and also with Margareth Menezes and Walter Wanderley. She appeared at the world famous Monterey Jazz Festival with Batucaje, opening for Ray Charles as well as performing with her own band at the San Francisco Jazz Festival and the San Jose Jazz Festival.

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