Maria Rita

Piano, double bass, a drum set and a voice: if we only consider the structure, we would say that Maria Rita produces uncomplicated music. But that is not a good description of her oeuvre. Her expressive voice evokes varying sentiments like desire, joy, sadness and hope in a wonderful way.

Maria Rita Mariano was born on 17 September 1977. Her parents were two popular Brazilian musicians: the pianist and composer César Camargo Mariano and the late singer Elis Regina. Many recognise characteristics of her mother in her. This has probably a genetic cause as her mother passed away when Maria Rita was only five years old.

At the age of 16, she left for the United States were she was to stay for one year. This eventually became eight years during which she studied Communication and Latin-America Studies. As a student, she was appreciated as a member of a chorus because of her strong and beautiful voice.

Back in Brazil, she launched her first CD in 2003. This album was simply called 'Maria Rita '. The first song on this record is ‘A Festa ’. This is an adaptation of ‘La Bamba ’ by her godfather Milton Nascimento who had also worked with her mother. The music critics were enthusiastic and Maria Rita received three Latin Grammy Awards for this album in 2004.

Her second album named ‘Segunda ’ was launched in 2005. Although her first album is by no means inferior to her second, Maria Rita’s own style becomes more refined on her second album. The second album is a bit softer and more melancholic than the first one.

Marcelo Camelo, who already composed a number of songs for her first album, also composed songs for her second album (Casa Pré-Fabricada and Despedida ). Outstanding are the contributions of composer Rodrigo Maranhão who wrote three songs for this album including the first song Caminho das Águas . Mal Intento is a song in Spanish (the rest of the album is in Portuguese) written by the Uruguaian Jorge Drexler. Sobre Todas as Coisas is a cover of Chico Buarque and Edu Lobo while A Minha Alma was originally launched by d'O Rappa. On Segunda, Maria Rita is accompanied by the pianist Tiago Costa (also present on her first album), Sylvinho Mazzucca (double bass) and Cuca Teixeira (drums).

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