Céu

Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças, better known professionally as Céu (Brazilian Portuguese: [sɛu]; born 17 April 1980)[2] is a Brazilian singer-songwriter whose first American album was released on the Six Degrees Records label in April 2007.

Céu
Céu live in São Paulo on 13 August 2009.
Background information
Birth nameMaria do Céu Whitaker Poças
Born (1980-04-17) 17 April 1980
OriginSão Paulo, Brazil
GenresMPB, bossa nova, world music, trip hop[1]
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
InstrumentsVocals, keyboards, percussion
Years active2002–present
LabelsUrban Jungle, Six Degrees
WebsiteCéu

Career life

She was born in São Paulo, Brazil, from a musical family, her father being a composer, arranger and musicologist. It was from her father that she learned to appreciate Brazil's classical music composers, particularly Heitor Villa-Lobos, Ernesto Nazaré and Orlando Silva.

By age fifteen she had decided to become a musician and by her late teens she had studied music theory, as well as the violão (nylon-stringed Brazilian guitar). Her songs reveal many influences, which include samba, valsa, choro, soul, rhythm and blues, hip hop, afrobeat and electrojazz music.[3]

In particular, she cites as influences the music of African-Americans Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Lauryn Hill, and Erykah Badu, as well as Brazilian Jorge Ben.[4]

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 Antônio Pinto. She later learned that he was actually a distant cousin. 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 (1999) and City of God (2002).

Originally issued in 2005 on the São Paulo-based Urban Jungle, Céu was picked up by Six Degrees/Starbucks/Hear Music in the US and UK, JVC in Japan and Harmonia Mundi in France and in the Netherlands. For this album, Céu received a Latin Grammy nomination for "Best New Artist" in 2006[5] and a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary World Music Album in 2008.

In 2009, her critically acclaimed second album Vagarosa reached No. 2 on the US Billboard's World Music charts. The album has since been nominated for a 2010 Latin Grammy Award for Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album.[6] In 2010, Céu was invited by Herbie Hancock to record a version of "Tempo de Amor" for The Imagine Project album.

In 2011, she contributed a version of the track "It's a Long Way" in collaboration with Apollo Nove and N.A.S.A. for the Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album Red Hot + Rio 2. The album is a follow-up to the 1996 Red Hot + Rio. In 2012, Céu received her third Latin Grammy nomination for "Best Contemporary Brazilian Pop Album" for her third album Caravana Sereia Bloom.

In 2014, she released in Brazil her first live DVD/CD entitled Céu – Ao Vivo, the concert was filmed in August 2014 in São Paulo and contains 15 tracks in total, including the never before released cover versions of all time classics "Piel Canela" and "Mais Uma Noite de Amor", behind the scenes footage of the band and more. Céu – Ao Vivo also includes live versions of Céu's greatest hits, "Lenda", "Malemolência", "10 Contados", "Cangote" and "Baile de Ilusão".

In 2016, she released her fourth studio album named Tropix. Combining electronic beats with brazilian rhythms, she went to receive critical acclaim from vehicles like The Guardian[7] and The New York Times.[8] She also won, in the same year, her first Latin Grammy in the Best Portuguese Language Contemporary Pop Album category.

Her album APKÁ was considered one of the 25 best Brazilian albums of the second half of 2019 by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics.[9]

Trivia
  • Céu (céu) means "sky" and "heaven" in Portuguese.[2]
  • The song "Malemolência" was featured on the soccer game by EA Sports, FIFA 08.[10]
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Céu is one of the relatively few Brazilian artists who has performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (2010).
  • Between 2013 and 2014 Céu performed a series of concerts in Brazil to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the release of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ legendary album Catch a Fire.

Discography

Awards and nominations
Year Awards Category Recipient Outcome Ref.
2006 Latin Grammy Award Best New Artist Céu Nominated
2007 MTV Video Music Brazil Best New Act Céu Nominated
2008 Grammy Award Best Contemporary World Music Album CéU Nominated [11]
2009 Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte Best Female Céu Won [12]
MTV Video Music Brazil Best MPB Act Céu Nominated
2010 Latin Grammy Award Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album Vagarosa Nominated
MTV Video Music Brazil Best MPB Act Céu Nominated
2012 Latin Grammy Award Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album Caravana Sereia Bloom Nominated [13]
2016 Prêmio Multishow
Version of the Year "Chico Buarque Song" Won
Best Video "Perfume do Invisível" Nominated
Best Direction Won
Best Photography Won
Song of the Year Nominated
"Varanda Suspensa" Nominated
Album of the Year Tropix Nominated
Best Album Recording Won
Best Album Cover Nominated
Latin Grammy Award Best Portuguese Language Contemporary Pop Album Won [14]
Best Engineered Album Won
Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte Artist of the Year Céu Won
2020 Latin Grammy Award Best Portuguese Language Contemporary Pop Album Apká! Won [15]

References
  1. Goldman, Vivien (31 January 2012). "Local Groove Does Good: The Story Of Trip-Hop's Rise From Bristol". NPR Music. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  2. "Ceu: From Brazil with Love: World Cafe". NPR. 1 April 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  3. Garcia, Adriana (2 April 2007). "Singer Ceu brings sexy back to Brazilian music". Reuters. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  4. Slater, Russ (2 July 2011). "It's Natural: An Interview with Céu". Soundsandcolours.com. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  6. Slater, Russ (1 September 2010). "Céu, Banda de Turistas and Choc Quib Town nominated for Latin Grammys". Soundsandcolours.com. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  7. Denselow, Robin (3 March 2016). "Céu: Tropix review – laidback electro bossa from a modern Astrud Gilberto". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  8. Chinen, Nate (2 March 2016). "Review: Layers in 'Tropix,' From Céu". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  9. Antunes, Pedro (7 December 2019). "Os 25 melhores discos brasileiros do 2º semestre de 2019, segundo a APCA [LISTA]". Rolling Stone Brasil (in Portuguese). Grupo Perfil. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  10. "FIFA 08 Soundtrack". Fifplay.com. 1 September 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 December 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2007.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Confira a lista dos vencedores do prêmio APCA 2009 – Cultura – Estadão". Cultura.estadao.com.br. 1 December 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 December 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Latin Grammys 2016 to Honor Marc Anthony as Person of the Year". Billboard. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  15. "Grammy Latino: Elza Soares, Céu e Anitta entre representantes do Brasil". VEJA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 20 November 2020.
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