Bossa nova's Daniela Soledade: You CAN go home again – St Pete Catalyst
by June 2, 2024
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Pretty World, the new album from St. Petersburg bossa singer/songwriter Daniela Soledade, is – like the most affecting Brazilian bossa nova music – gentle, supple and evocative of summer breezes and tropical love affairs.
Soledade, born into a musical Rio de Janeiro family, moved to the Tampa Bay area when she was 16. She didn’t know much English then, but the music, she knew intimately.
Her English is perfect these days, thank you, and musically, Pretty World is several steps ahead of its predecessor, 2019’s (also delightful) A Moment of You.
Downbeat magazine praised her “mastery of the form” and “the pristine clarity of her vocals.”
For Soledade and her partner in both life and music, guitarist Nate Najar, the crazy first year of the pandemic meant zero live gigs. So they livestreamed a weekly concert from their home in downtown St. Pete.
“That really allowed us to finesse, polish and grow our artistry,” Soledade explains. “And our repertoire. We were playing a lot, just the two of us, and learning new songs – for the first 11 weeks, we didn’t repeat one song on our livestreams.”
The benefits, she adds, were incalculable.
“I think artists are always growing. I’m always aiming to grow and improve. In two years, there’s a whole lot of growth both technically and in terms of presence. I hear recordings of me six months ago, and I can tell the difference.”
Sung in Portuguese and English, the breezy and confident songs on Pretty World were recorded in a studio in the Copacabana neighborhood in Rio’s South Zone, with Brazilian musicians including Soledade’s father, bassist Paulinho Soledade, and drummer Claudio Infante.
“This album is the extension of my family’s legacy,” says Soledade. “It was very special to have my father playing bass on it; and he’s been playing with the drummer since he was a teenager. That’s one of the main reasons to go to Brazil to get it done.
“And so it was nice to have recorded it in Copacabana, where bossa nova started. We recorded in the very same neighborhood where my grandfather had his nightclub, which was the incubator for the very first bossa nova shows.”
Soledade’s grandfather was Paulo Soledade, who composed with bossa nova founders Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Toquinho and others.
“It’s special to me to feel like I am continuing this family tradition. I grew up, half my time, in that neighborhood. Gathering with my friends, playing music at my dad’s house. So the history, certainly, is a very important part of it.”
Najar – who produced the album – played guitar and cavaquinho; St. Petersburg’s Patrick Bettison performed on electric piano and harmonica. Guests on Pretty World include Randy Brecker on fluegelhorn, Harry Allen on tenor sax and Gulfport’s Gumbi Ortiz on percussion.
Brazilian legend Antonio Adolpho played piano. Adolpho, along with legendary bossa nova guitarist Roberto Menescal, will special guest at Friday’s album release show at the Palladium.
Along with Soledade and Najar, the band will include Bettison, Joe Porter on bass, drummer Jean Bolduc and Alvon Griffin on percussion.
“It was such a serendipitous moment when I met Nate, because we both love this music,” Soledade says. “Nate was playing Brazilian music 15 years before we ever met. So it was really special. Then he said ‘Let me produce an album for you,’ that’s when we recorded my first album.
“Everything changed. Because Nate understands the aesthetic and the essence of this music like no one I’ve ever met. And he’s really helped me grow, a lot, as an artist.”
Tickets for Friday’s concert are here.
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