Elza Soares

Elza da Conceição Soares (née Gomes; 23 June 1930 – 20 January 2022), known professionally as Elza Soares , was a Brazilian samba singer. In 1999, she was named Singer of the Millennium along with Tina Turner by BBC Radio.

Elza was deemed dangerous by the Military dictatorship in Brazil (1964–1985), and in 1970 her house in the Jardim Botânico neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro, was machine-gunned by regime agents. Inside were her partner Garrincha and their children. The living room, where the young children were, was destroyed by the blasts. She and Garrincha had to flee to Italy, where they were received by Chico Buarque de Hollanda also in exile.

Biography Elza Gomes da Conceição was born on 23 June 1930 in Padre Miguel, Rio de Janeiro.

Career In 1958, Soares spent eight months touring Argentina with Mercedes Batista. She became popular with her first single "Se Acaso Você Chegasse", on which she introduced scat singing à la Louis Armstrong, adding a bit of jazz to samba, however, Elza said that she did not know American music at the time. She moved to São Paulo, where she performed at theaters and night clubs. Her husky voice became her trademark. After finishing her second album, A Bossa Negra, she went to Chile to represent Brazil in the 1962 FIFA World Cup and met Louis Armstrong.

From 1967 to 1969, Soares recorded three albums with the record label Odeon, partnering with singer Miltinho. The albums were titled Elza, Miltinho e Samba (Volumes 1–3). The songs in these albums were mostly in the potpourri style with duets. The albums were produced by Milton Miranda and Hermínio Bello de Carvalho and re-released on CD in 2003 by EMI-Odeon.

In the 1970s, she toured the U.S. and Europe. In 2000, she was named Best Singer of the Millennium by the BBC in London, where she performed a concert with Gal Costa, Chico Buarque, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Virgínia Rodrigues. During the same year, she played a series of avant-garde concerts directed by José Miguel Wisnik in Rio de Janeiro.

Soares scored a number of hits in Brazil throughout her career, including "Se Acaso Você Chegasse" (1960), "Boato" (1961), "Cadeira Vazia" (1961), "Só Danço Samba" (1963), "Mulata Assanhada" (1965), and "Aquarela Brasileira" (1974). Elza Pede Passagem produced no major hit singles but it was considered representative of the samba-soul of the early 1970s.

In 2002, her album Do Cóccix Até O Pescoço album earned a Grammy nomination. The album was recorded with Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque, Carlinhos Brown, and Jorge Ben Jor. In 2004, Soares released Vivo Feliz with the single, "Rio de Janeiro", a homage to her city of birth. While not as successful in sales as her previous release, the album carried on the theme of mixing samba and bossa nova with modern electronic music and effects. The album included collaborations with Nando Reis, Fred 04 (former leader of mangue beat band Mundo Livre S/A), and Zé Keti.

In 2007, she was invited to sing a cappella the Brazilian National Anthem at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Pan American Games.

Soares joined Jair Rodrigues and Seu Jorge for Sambistas (2009). In 2016, A Mulher do Fim do Mundo was released internationally with the translated title Woman at the End of the World. She also performed at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where she sang "O Canto de Ossanha" by Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes.

Her album A Mulher do Fim do Mundo was released in 2015. It was praised by critics as one of the best MPB albums of the past years. She won the award for Best Album in pop/rock/reggae/hip-hop/funk. This album was also nominated for Best Album of Brazilian Popular Music and Best Song in Portuguese at the 17th edition of the Latin Grammy Awards.

Her album Deus É Mulher was ranked as the 2nd best Brazilian album of 2018 by the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone magazine and among the 25 best Brazilian albums of the first half of 2018 by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics.

The follow-up Planet Fome was considered one of the 25 best Brazilian albums of the second half of 2019 by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics. For this album, she planned a cover of "Comida", by Titãs featuring the then current members of the band (Branco Mello, Sérgio Britto and Tony Bellotto), but she ended up choosing to save the song for later and it was released in October 2020 to mark the album's first anniversary and to celebrate its nomination for the Latin Grammy Award.

Discography

Se Acaso Você Chegasse (Odeon, 1960) A Bossa Negra (Odeon, 1961/Universal 2003) O Samba é Elza Soares (Odeon, 1961) Sambossa (Odeon, 1963) Na Roda do Samba (Odeon, 1964) Um Show de Elza (Odeon, 1965) Com A Bola Branca (Odeon, 1966) O Máximo em Samba (Odeon, 1967) Elza, Miltinho e Samba (Odeon, 1967) Elza, Miltinho e Samba Vol.2 (Odeon, 1968) Elza Soares e Wilson das Neves (Odeon, 1968) Elza, Carnaval & Samba (Odeon, 1969) Elza, Miltinho e Samba Vol.3 (Odeon, 1969) Samba & Mais Sambas (Odeon, 1969) Elza Pede Passagem (Odeon, 1972/EMI, 2004) Sangue, Suor e Raça (Odeon, 1972) Aquarela Brasileira (Odeon, 1973) Elza Soares (Tapecar, 1974) Nos Braços do Samba (Tapecar, 1974) Lição De Vida (Tapecar, 1976) Pilão + Raça = Elza (Tapecar, 1977) Senhora da Terra (CBS, 1979) Elza Negra, Negra Elza (CBS, 1980) Somos Todos Iguais (Som Livre, 1985) Voltei (RGE, 1988) Trajetória (Universal Music, 1997) Carioca da Gema (1999) Do Cóccix Até O Pescoço (Maianga/Tratore, 2002) Vivo Feliz (Tratore, 2004) Beba-Me (Biscoito Fino, 2007) A Mulher do Fim do Mundo (Circus, 2015) Elza Canta e Chora Lupi (2016) Deus é Mulher (Deckdisc, 2018) Planeta Fome (Deckdisc, 2019) Elza Soares & João de Aquino (Deckdisc, 2021) No tempo da intolerância (Deck, 2023)