The Brazilian Day festival proudly presents:

LULU SANTOS



Lulu Santos was the first singer to present at the festival, soon after it was remodeled in 1992. His participation was so remarkable that the public asked the organization to bring Lulu again.

Lulu is the son of a Brazilian Air-force officer, and for such spent most of his childhood overseas. He began his interest in music in his early teens, influenced by great international groups like The Beatles. Soon after, when the Brazilian music was geared by rhythms of Jovem Guarda, Tropicália and Bossa Nova, Lulu would embrace the same concepts, but his stronger attention would be dedicated to the rock, with which he became a fine partner.

Before he was transformed in one of Brazil's most celebrated pop-rock artists, he formed and participated in six rock groups: Cave Man, Albatroz, Veludo Elétrico, Vímana, Pomoja e Unziôtro. His first major works surged in the '80s, earning him a renowned prize at the Festival MPB-Shell of 1981 (Shell Brazilian Popular Music Festival of 1981). Later on, some of his albums did not reach the same success, but his partnership with Marcelo “Memê” would bring him back in great style, with the album “Eu e Memê, Memê e Eu” offering both old and new songs, and selling over a million copies.

Singer, composer and guitar-player, Lulu Santos has been an icon of the Brazilian culture for over three decades. As a strong name of the pop-rock, his main hits include: "Tesouros da juventude"; "Areias escaldantes"; "De repente Califórnia"; "Tudo com você"; "Scarlet Moon"; "O Ritmo..."; "Como uma onda"; "Um certo alguém"; "Tudo azul"; "O último romântico"; "Lua-de-Mel"; "Atualmente"; "Assim caminha a humanidade"; "Aviso aos navegantes"; among many others.

Among his partners, there are famous Brazilians such as Rita Lee, Nélson Motta and Gilberto Gil. Rita Lee actually composed the song “Scarlet Moon,” after his wife, the journalist and actress Scarlet Moon.

For more information about the carioca singer, please visit his official webpage:
www.lulusantos.com.br
 

JORGE BEN JOR

This is the first time Jorge Ben Jor will participate in the Brazilian Day events. Charismatic and deeply appreciated by the Brazilian public, Jorge Ben, as he's also known, is definitely an icon of the Brazilian music. He had first concert in New York City during the old famous Waldorf Astoria carnivals, in the '70s, organized by the Brazilian Promotion Center. With his celebrated hits “Mas que nada” and “Chove Chuva,” Jorge Ben has offered the world a spectacular and distinct rhythm, influenced by names such as João Gilberto, to whom he would listen during his youth. The Tropicália movement also heavily influenced his career, bringing him close to Caetano Veloso, who helped boost Ben Jor's career with an invitation to participate in a famous TV show that Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Elis Regina anchored at the Tupi TV station.

Beyond being a composer and singer, Jorge Ben Jor is also an arranger. He monitors his works phase by phase, looking at every possible detail. One his most famous songs, “Mas que nada,” is the notorious Brazilian song most played in Portuguese in the United States ever, having also been recorded by Ella Fitzgerald and numerous other artists. Who would be able to recognize the lyrics “O ariá raiô, Obá obá obá”?
Among Ben Jor's most famous works are: "Balança pema"; "Menina bonita não chora"; "Por causa de você, menina"; "Zazueira"; "Agora ninguém chora mais"; "Bebete vãobora"; "Cadê Tereza"; "Charles, Anjo 45"; "Que Pena"; "Take it easy my brother Charles"; "O telefone tocou novamente"; "Mulher Brasileira"; "Fio maravilha"; "Taj Mahal"; "Caramba... Galileu da Galiléia"; "Os alquimistas estão chegando"; "Menina mulher da pele preta"; "Minha teimosia, uma arma pra te conquistar"; "Jorge da Capadócia"; "Ponta de lança africano (Umbabarauma)"; "Xica da Silva"; "A banda do Zé Pretinho"; "Ive Brussel"; "Salve Simpatia"; "O dia que o sol declarou seu amor pela terra"; "Santa Clara clareou"; "Roberto corta essa"; "W/Brasil (Chama o síndico)"; "Engenho de dentro"; "Alcohol" and "Gostosa."

Please visit Jorge Ben Jor's official website www.jorgebenjor.com , for more of his biography, discography and agenda.
 

BANDA EVA



The Banda Eva is also performing for the first time in the Brazilian Day festival, and first time in New York City. The unique performances of the band throughout Brazil, and its fixed participation in the Bahia carnival had the public request the energy of the band's “axé” (Afro-Brazilian rhythm).

Banda Eva has at least 120 concerts per year in Brazil and abroad. By showing diversity and inimitable enthusiasm, the group gathers thousands of fans either at stages or at “trio elétricos” (huge sound trucks that drives around Brazilian streets, followed by the partygoers). Talented and a quite captivating singer and composer, Saulo Fernandes is now leading the band. For six years, he has been the vocalist who always electrifies the crowds with lots of music and Bahian dancing.

Banda Eva is part of the Group Eva, a music-related enterprise that has owned of one of the most traditional street bands of Salvador for 27 years. In the '90s, Ivete Sangalo was the band leader, being responsible for its huge escalation throughout the entire Brazil with hits like "Flores"; "Beleza rara"; "Levada louca"; "Arerê" e "Pegue aí." In a mix of charm, sensuality and talent, Ivete Sangalo led the Banda Eva to sell over two million copies of the album "Banda Eva Ao Vivo" (Banda Eva Live), in 1997.

In order to learn more about Banda Eva's projects, agendas and the like, please access www.bandaeva.com.br.