CéU at SFJAZZ Spring Festival at Herbst Theater

As a restless teenager growing up in Sao Paulo, Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças desperately wanted to step outside Brazilian culture to experience American music firsthand. At 18, she moved to New York City, immersing herself in jazz, blues and R&B. By the time she returned to São Paulo a year later, where she eventually emerged as the single-name sensation Céu, she had forged deep creative ties with a coterie of fellow Brazilian musicians working in the Big Apple. It took leaving home for her to find her voice as a Brazilian artist. Now the most visible young Brazilian singer on a scene teeming with alluring vocalists, Céu has released a string of Grammy-nominated albums on San Francisco-based Six Degrees Records...

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As a restless teenager growing up in Sao Paulo, Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças desperately wanted to step outside Brazilian culture to experience American music firsthand. At 18, she moved to New York City, immersing herself in jazz, blues and R&B. By the time she returned to São Paulo a year later, where she eventually emerged as the single-name sensation Céu, she had forged deep creative ties with a coterie of fellow Brazilian musicians working in the Big Apple. It took leaving home for her to find her voice as a Brazilian artist. Now the most visible young Brazilian singer on a scene teeming with alluring vocalists, Céu has released a string of Grammy-nominated albums on San Francisco-based Six Degrees Records. Her star is still ascending as she makes new creative connections, for instance appearing on Herbie Hancock’s 2010 release The Imagine Project. Expect to hear material from her upcoming album!

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