Luanda Jones (solo) at TD Toronto Jazz Festival at May Cafe

Emerging Brazilian singer/songwriter Luanda Jones has been captivating audiences for over a decade with her unique blend of suave, jazz inflected vocals and stylized guitar harmonies, passionately interpreting some of the South American nation’s most cherished popular musical traditions. Drawing from the effervescent wellspring of Brazil’s diverse MPB (Brazilian Pop Music ) genre, Luanda colours the expansive, encyclopedic sonic shades of her cherished influences with an unforgettable vocal charm and entirely welcoming onstage personality.

Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and born into a musical family, Luanda’s ear was keenly tweaked from an early age. Her father, Luis Moreno, was a veteran rock drummer who played with some of the biggest names in MPB, including the eternal Elis Regina, rocker Raul Seixas, Luis Melodia, Zezé Motta, and the progressive rock group O Terço. Mother Irinéa Maria Ribeiro, for her part, has worked as a recognized songwriter and arranger for over 30 years, writing with such celebrated names as Tim Maia, Jane Duboc, and Cauby Peixoto, among others. With those two parental forces, it’s little wonder that from her earliest performances at the tender age of nine, the young singer knew that she had found her calling....

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Emerging Brazilian singer/songwriter Luanda Jones has been captivating audiences for over a decade with her unique blend of suave, jazz inflected vocals and stylized guitar harmonies, passionately interpreting some of the South American nation’s most cherished popular musical traditions. Drawing from the effervescent wellspring of Brazil’s diverse MPB (Brazilian Pop Music ) genre, Luanda colours the expansive, encyclopedic sonic shades of her cherished influences with an unforgettable vocal charm and entirely welcoming onstage personality.

Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and born into a musical family, Luanda’s ear was keenly tweaked from an early age. Her father, Luis Moreno, was a veteran rock drummer who played with some of the biggest names in MPB, including the eternal Elis Regina, rocker Raul Seixas, Luis Melodia, Zezé Motta, and the progressive rock group O Terço. Mother Irinéa Maria Ribeiro, for her part, has worked as a recognized songwriter and arranger for over 30 years, writing with such celebrated names as Tim Maia, Jane Duboc, and Cauby Peixoto, among others. With those two parental forces, it’s little wonder that from her earliest performances at the tender age of nine, the young singer knew that she had found her calling.

The invaluable influences of her early home life would swell dramatically over the years to include not only Brazilian stalwarts such as Tom Jobim, Jorge Benjor, Gilberto Gil, and Rita Lee, but also international artists like the Beatles and Badi Assad. Luanda has also received classical vocal training from the esteemed Professor Vera Canto e Mello, earning her a graduate certificate in music harmony studies from the MusiCenter music school in Rio de Janeiro.

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