The Hurricane by Elis Regina

Celebrating the life of one of the greatest singers of all time, Elis 'The Hurricane' Regina ( aka Little Pepper )
Born in Porto Alegre, Elis Regina started her singing career at age 11, singing on the radio. In 1959, she signed her first professional deal with the radio station Rádio Gaúcha, and in the following year she moved to Rio de Janeiro, recording her first single for Continental, where she became nicknamed 'The Little Pepper'

In 1961, the same record label released her first LP, "Viva a Brotolândia", which featured calypso and rock ’n’ roll tunes. After that, she returned to Porto Alegre, remaining until 1964, when she finally moved back to Rio de Janeiro. Elis Regina sang at the famous Bossa Nova nightclub Beco das Garrafas. At that time, Elis Regina was hired by TV network TV Rio, where she performed with other famous musicians, such as Jorge Ben and Wilson Simonal. Elis Regina became known nation wide in 1965, when she performed "Arrastão", by Edu Lobo and Vinicius de Moraes, at the first Brazilian Popular Music Festival. After that, Elis Regina recorded "Dois na Bossa" in collaboration with Jair Rodrigues. This record was so popular that they released volumes 2 and 3.

Together with Jair Rodrigues, Elis Regina took part in one of the most important Brazilian Music TV shows, O Fino da Bossa, aired in 1965 on TV Record. This program was responsible for launching musicians and hit songs, such as "Canto de Ossanha" (Baden Powell/ Vinicius de Moraes), "Louvação" (Gilberto Gil/ Torquato Neto) and "Lunik 9" (Gil). After that, Elis Regina’s career took off. Her 1966 album "Elis", included the first recording of the song "Canção do Sal", by Milton Nascimento. Elis Regina also helped boosting the careers of composers like Milton Nascimento, Ivan Lins ("Madalena"), Tavito/ Zé Rodrix ("Casa no Campo") and Belchior ("Como Nossos Pais"), by recording their early materials.

She took part in music festivals and political/musical movements, such as the "demonstration against electric guitars", which aimed at protecting the “roots” of Brazilian Popular Music against foreign invasion. Elis Regina’s international career was consolidated in 1969, when she toured around the main European and Latin American capitals. One of her most popular albums is "Elis e Tom" (with Tom Jobim), which was recorded in the United States.

In 1979, she took part in the Montreux Jazz Festival, in Switzerland, and recorded one of her greatest hits, "O Bêbado e a Equilibrista", by Aldir Blanc and João Bosco. These two musicians wrote many of her hits, such as "Caçador de Esmeraldas", "Mestre-sala dos Mares", "Dois pra Lá, Dois pra Cá". Some of Elis Regina’s unforgettable performances include "Upa, Neguinho" (Edu Lobo/ G. Guarnieri), "Águas de Março" (Tom Jobim), "Ponta de Areia" (Milton Nascimento/ Fernando Brant), "Folhas Secas" (Nelson Cavaquinho/ Guilherme de Brito) and "Romaria" (Renato Teixeira).

March 17th marks Elis Regina's birthday, but even those who only casually observed this singer's meteoric career knew that fate would hold to a much shorter calendar. On January 19, 1982, Regina died at the age of 36, from cardiac arrest, after consuming vermouth, cocaine and tranquilizers. More than 15,000 fans attended a musical wake in the Teatro Bandeirantes in São Paulo. She was buried in Cemitério do Morumbi. putting a coda on an all too brief roller coaster of a life that was filled with riotous emotion and more than enough music to sustain us long after she had gone.

Nicknamed 'The Hurricane', - an allusion to her mood swings - Elis Regina's talent was beyond measure and had no equal. Indeed, in the ensuing 20 years, the void created by her passing has gone largely unfilled in Brazilian song. Today, Gal Costa still reigns as the Grand Dame while singer such as Leila Pinhireo and Zizi Possi battle for position as her heirs apparent while staving off a plethora of challenges from succeeding generations. But who could possibly claim Elis Regina's position today? Silence stands in answer, ringing as loudly as those cheering masses that day in Brazil, long ago...

Much like Charlie Parker, Woody Gutherie or Placido Domingo, Regina's music demands that you involve yourself. And much like Janis Joplin's, Regina's tempestuous life sought its creative release on stage and in the studio.

In 1995, the Sharp Music Awards ceremony paid a tribute to this amazing singer. Elis Regina’s two sons and a daughter, João Marcelo Boscoli (by her marriage with Ronaldo Boscoli) Pedro Camargo Mariano and Maria Rita (by her marriage with César Camargo Mariano) are also musicians...

This collection brings together songs from the beginning of her career, featuring recordings from..
Elis Regina Com Orquestra De Severino Filho* – Viva A Brotolândia
O Bem Do Amor
Ellis Regina
Poema De Amor



MPB -
"Musica Popular Brasileira" (or MPB) is a broad, catch-all phrase used to describe the movements in Brazilian music that came after the bossa nova movement. The phrase came into wide usage in the 60', as the stars of the socially radical, rock-oriented tropicalia scene started to mellow out and find wider, mainstream audiences that were more open to their innovative, eclectic musical leanings. There were, however, other key artists who had been pioneering change in Brazilian pop at the same time as the tropicalistas, particularly jazz and bossa nova oriented composers such as Chico Buarque, Ivan Lins, Edo Lobo, and Milton Nascimento, whose work also fell under the "MPB" label. Dozens of second generation MPB artists were prominent in the '70s and '80s, including the likes of Joao Bosco, Maria Creuza, Djavan, Simone, and others. MPB became increasingly sophisticated and, arguably, too slick and musically conservative for its own good. For many, MPB represents the small slice of sugary, overproduced pop that was the only kind of Brazilian music available for many years in the States and eleswhere.

The term MPB is still commonly used, although Brazilian pop has expanded and adapted so much since the mid-1980s, that the term has become even more nebulous that it was originally -- for example, are hip-hop and electronica artists MPB? Some styles, such as the Caribbean flavored axe, and the Africanist samba-reggae and bloco-afro scenes, set out to inject distinct ethnic or pan-American sensibilities into the Brazilian style, and arguably are quite separate from the '70s rock-jazz-latin mix that many consider classically "MPB".

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