CéU proved to one of the more internationally appealing singers to break out of Brazil around the time of her 2005 debut, ultimately winning a Latin Grammy nomination for Best New Artist and garnering interest for herself in Europe and North America. Her singing is what earned her acclaim, yet her music is novel as well, a fusion of samba, reggae, and electronica, with touches of jazz and soul. She was born Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças in São Paulo; however, she bills herself as simply CéU. (In Portuguese, céu can mean either sky or heaven, depending on the context; more specifically, the word comes from the Latin word caelu and refers to the infinite space overhead, including the sky as well as the cosmos.) She grew up in a music family; her father is a composer, arranger, and musicologist. At an early age, she learned to appreciate renowned Brazilian composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Ernesto Nazareth, and Orlando Silva, and as a teenager, she decided to become a singer. Rather than go to college, she studied music, including theory as well as the violão, a nylon-stringed guitar native to Brazil.
CéU eventually moved to New York City for a while once she was old enough to leave home. There she encountered many new influences, including old-school jazz singers such as Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald as well as contemporary R&B singers such as Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu. Also while in New York City, she befriended Antonio Pinto, a fellow Brazilian musician; he is perhaps best known for composing the score to City of God (2002), among other films. In time, after moving back to Brazil and fronting a couple groups, CéU recorded her debut album, a self-titled release produced largely by Beto Villares, with the aid of Pinto. CéU was released in 2005 by Urban Jungle, a label based in São Paulo, in partnership with Ambulante Discos, Villares' label. The album was later licensed by Six Degrees, a stylish label based in San Francisco that is known for its catalog of Brazilian releases, after CéU had already been met with success in parts of Europe, including France -- and, by association, French-speaking Canada as well. Thanks to the buzz surrounding her debut, CéU earned a Latin Grammy nomination in 2006 for Best New Artist. Her sophomore release, Vagarosa, arrived in early 2009. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
As Céu herself explained, "I have a passion for Black culture, from Jazzdivas to Afro beat. Everything comes from Africa. With Samba, I have a very strong connection to the old school that we call 'Samba de raiz' (Root Samba). I am a vinyl listener, so I tried to bring some of that to the CD, mixing it with modern things like rap or even 'Brega', which is the newest thing in Brazil."[2]
Céu was performing onstage with major artists and exploring the repertoire of the marchinhas (turn-of-the-century carnival music) by her late teens. Soon after that she relocated temporarily to New York City, where she had a chance meeting with fellow Brazilian musician Antonio Pinto, who became her flat mate while he was going through some financial difficulties. She later learned that he was actually a distant cousin, and their relationship was renewed when he teamed up with lead producer Beto Villares, composer of the musical score for the movie O Ano em que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias (2007) to help her record her album. Pinto, who produced Céu's song "Ave Cruz" is the composer of the musical score for two Oscar Nominated films, Central Station (film) (1999) and City of God (film) (2003.)
Originally issued in 2005 on the São Paulo-based Urban Jungle and Beto Villares’ Ambulante Discos, Céu was picked up by Six Degrees/Starbucks/Hear Music in the US and UK (in partenrship with WhatMusic), by LCL in Canada, JVC in Japan and Harmonia Mundi in France and in the Netherlands. Céu has a Latin Grammy nomination for “best new artist” of 2006 and just received a Grammy nomination for "Best Contemporary World Music Album." of 2007. She is also riding high on a wave of international success in France, where the influential Les Inrockuptibles recognized her as one of the top 5 musical revelations of 2005, Holland, and Italy, as well as in Canada, where she was recently the fourth highest-selling artist for the Archambault chain of music shops while simultaneously holding the number 32 slot on the pop charts. Debut album in the U.S. with Six Degrees Records as the first international artist on Starbucks' Hear Music Debut Series. Her album was received with critical praise from NPR's Morning Edition, The Associated Press, Reuters, and many more, hailing her as "…a fresh new face in the Brazilian music scene." Her album has sound scanned over 110,000 copies to date, making her the biggest selling Brazilian artist of 2007. Céu reached unprecedented chart numbers for a Brazilian female artist—1 on Billboard's Heatseekers (New Artist) Chart, 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 1 on Billboard's World Music charts. In 2008, Céu received a Grammy nomination for “Best Contemporary World Music Album” of 2007 for her debut album Céu. In 2009, her criticaly acclaimed second album Vagarosa reached in the position #2 on the US Billboard's World Music charts.
Céu (céu) means "sky" and "heaven" in Portuguese.[1]
Ceu's labels around the world: Céu's album was produced by São Paulo based labels Ambulante Discos and Urban Jungle and has been released around the world in partnership with: USA/UK/Germany - Six Degrees Records-sixdegreesrecords.com - France/Benelux/Italy - Harmonia Mundi - Canada - LCL Music - fusion3.com - Japan - JVC Music - jvcmusic.co.jp - Brazil/Mexico/Chile/Argentina/Spain/Portugal WarnerMusic - warnermusic.com
Booking Agency: Loop Productions (Europe) - The Agency Group (USA, Australia, Japan)
The song "Malemolência" was featured on the soccer game FIFA 08.
Starbucks has promoted her album in its coffeehouses through its Hear Music Debut CD series. She is the first international artist chosen by Starbucks for promotion.[3]
Céu performed at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Pan American Games
In 2008 Céu formed the São Paulo collective "Sonantes" with Brazilian musicians and producers Rica Amabis, Gui Amabis, Pupillo, Dengue.
Discography
2005 - Céu (#57 Billboard 200/#1 Billboard World Music/#4 Top Independent Albums/#1 Top Heatseekers)
