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Tickets
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Trip Hop Samba
Céu
| Brazil
Booking-Agent:
Frank Abraham
+49 30 261032920
fa@f-cat.de
“The hall's acoustics seemed perfectly matched to the Brazilian vocalist's elastic voice, allowing its timbre to resonate. Backed by a turntablist/effects programmer, an acoustic drummer, a bassist, and a keyboard player, the band functioned as a quintet - CeU's vocals were like an instrument in and of itself. Running through selections from her self-titled debut and her more recent album Vagarosa , CeU flawlessly executed bossa nova and tropicalismo-inflected tunes, along with more adventurous numbers which evoked spaghetti Westerns, Jamaican dubfests, and neo-soul throwdowns reminiscent of a South American Sade.”
San Francisco Weekly, 20.07.2009
“Listening to her is listening to how a Brazilian hears music, from electro-samba and afrobeat, to soul and R&B. You'll never mistake the Brazilian sound, but the loops and spikes of electronica and rubberband bass lines from funk make it an alleyway you've never wandered down before.”
The Seattlest, 15.07.2009
“Amid the seeming plethora of Brazilian singers of recent vintage, the one called Ceu — a.k.a. Maria do Ceu Whitaker Pocas — flies way above for her startling clear tone and persuasive technical finesse, a subtly inventive sort of phrasing that adds depth to an intriguing and very catholic taste in repertoire. While her new Vagarosa album on Six Degrees is rife, as per the rest of the pack, with the breakbeat electronics and other nods to jazzy funk-soul familiarity, she’s woven in strands of the old, acoustic Brazil in darker explorations that rewrite the burnished inner rhythms and harmonies of samba, bossa nova and the bittersweet fado. There’s a satisfyingly intelligent yet relaxed vibe about the album, and about Ceu: She’s got nothing to prove, and she’s proving it.”
John Payne for LA Weekly, 17.07.2009
“The group kicked off with a dreamy psychedelic-funk number that immediately got fans moving, and followed that with another new tune that had a Northeastern Brazilian vibe. Her band had great chemistry together. DJ Marco, Nicro and Fraga formed a tight unit, which allowed Ribeiro to add more texture to the music without leaving any spaces open in the overall sound. Céu did revisit a handful of tunes from her first disc, such as "Vinheta Quebrante" and "Malemolencia," but most of the set was concentrated on the new disc.
The room was completely full, an impressive showing considering that despite her Grammy nominations, Céu has not yet become a household name, neither here nor in Brazil. The audience was multi-cultural, and by the end of the set the people standing around the venue's two bars were freely dancing to her infectious mix of funk, reggae and samba.
Two of the best moments of the New York show (which closed her mini-US tour) were the ballad "10 Contados," which featured Ribeiro playing a soft accordion and deftly complementing DJ Marco's soft vocal effects. Also very well received was "Ave Cruz," a song from her first disc that received considerable radio play in Brazil.
It was quite clear that Céu's sound has evolved significantly since her self-titled debut release (Six Degrees, 2005). She has taken her music in a more soulful direction—evidence of this was the contrast that the new songs have with her earlier hits, which had a modern São Paulo samba influence. She has found a truly distinctive voice, and it is just a matter of time until she receives the recognition she deserves.”
Ernest Barteldes for All About Jazz, 21.7.2009
