Nara Leao

Nara Lofego Leão was born in 1942 into a middle class family who was originally from Espírito Santo, her parents then moved to Rio de Janeiro when she was very young. In her teens she started having guitar lessons with Carlos Lyra and Roberto Menescal, who would have known where this would lead – a lifetime relationship!. She was also very much involved with the movers and shakers of the early bossa nova scene with artists such as Carlos Antonio Jobim, Joao Gilberto, Chico Buarque, Carlos Lyra and others. In the late fifties, by day she worked as a journalist and by night she performed. 1963 was a turning point in her professional career; she appeared in the musical "Pobre Menina Rica", written by her close friends Vinicius de Moraes and Carlos Lyra. She also was a guest vocalist on Carlos Lyra’s album "Depois do Carnaval", (singing on the tracks "Marcha da Quarta-feira de Cinzas” and "Promessas de Você) and toured Brazil, Japan, and France with Sérgio Mendes. She also recorded "Naná" (which was included in the movie soundtrack to Ganga Zumba, Rei dos Palmares) as well as her first album, "Nara". “Nara” provoked controversy due to its repertoire which included not only bossa nova tunes, but also various samba tunes. She recorded her second album straight after “Nara” and called it “Opinião de Nara” (Leão's Opinion) and launched the track "Opinião" she also appeared in a show called Opinião at the Theatre Opinião ( in Rio). Nara also started to become a household name as she appeared on Elis Regina/Jair Rodrigues' show regularly, which eventually also had Chico Buarque, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Edu Lobo, Tom Jobim, Vinícius de Moraes. In 1966 she helped defend Chico Buarque's "A Banda," together with him at TV Record's II FMPB . Between 1966 and 1967, she and Chico Buarque had a regular weekly TV show . In the mid 70’s Nara briefly gave up on her musical career and focussed on her family and education. But the lure of music was too great and she resumed her career. Endowed with a talent for spotting new composers, Nara launched several songwriters by lending her voice to songs that were turned into big hits she also recorded most of the bossa nova classics.