About Me
Antonio Carlos Jobim used to say that his group, Nova Banda, was made up of five beautiful girls, five handsome guys and a dirty old man. Paula Morelenbaum was one of these girls and her husband, Jaques, one of the boys. In the period 1984-1994, Paula toured around the world with Jobim Brazil, Japan, Europe, Canada, U.S performing at prestigious venues such as the Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City, being also featured in the following albums by Jobim: Passarim, Antonio Brasileiro, Tom Jobim Inédito and Tom canta Vinicius.It all started four years earlier (1980) as a member of vocal ensemble Céu da Boca, . The group released the albums Céu da Boca (1981) and Baratotal (1982), having performed extensively in Brazil for five years.In 1989, besides touring and performing with Antonio Carlos Jobim, she is also featured as singer/actress in the musical production Lamartine para inglêz ver, directed by Antonio de Bonis.In 1991, the Rio-born singer Paula Morelenbaum is featured in the album Amazonas / FamÃlia Jobim as a member of Nova Banda. She performs in American jazz clubs, including the famous Birdland, in NYC.The year 1992 marked the release of her first solo album, Paula Morelenbaum (Camerati), produced by Jaques Morelenbaum, also featured as musician and arranger. Paula is accompanied by Daniel Jobim (keyboards), Felipe Poli (acoustic/electric guitars), Igor Eça (bass), Domenico Lancellotti (drums), Luiz Jakka (percussion). The album contains songs written by Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Rita Lee, Arrigo Barnabé, Paulo Jobim, José Miguel Wisnik, George Gershwin, Vinicius de Moraes and Antonio Carlos Jobim, who sings and plays in one of the tracks. The album obtained the 1994 Sharp Brazilian Music Award in the category Pop-Rock Revelation.In 1993, she is featured in Songbook Vinicius de Moraes and Songbook Dorival Caymmi, producer Almir Chediak.In 1994, Paula Morelenbaum toured Brazil presenting a musical show titled Chica-chica-boom-chic contemporary re-readings of Carmen Mirandas songs in arrangements created by Paula.
In the late 90s, she integrated the critically acclaimed Quarteto Jobim-Morelenbaum together with her husband Jaques, Jobims son, Paulo, and his son, Daniel a vocal/instrumental chamber music quartet whose repertoire and arrangements are based on Antonio Carlos Jobims musical legacy.In 1995, Paula Morelenbaum is featured in Ryuichi Sakamotos album Smoochy, in Almir Chediaks Songbook Chico Buarque and in Antonio Pintos movie soundtrack Menino Maluquinho, director Helvécio Raton.The year 1996 marks the birth of her daughter Dora, but Paula happily manages to combine motherly cares with artistic activities.In 1999, the group recorded a self-titled album, Quarteto Jobim-Morelenbaum (Velas/Sony Music). Once again, Paula was gracing concert and festival stages in Brazil, Europe, Asia and the U.S.In the new century, she provided the vocals for the highly acclaimed trio
Morelenbaum2/Sakamoto, teaming her and Jaques with Japanese composer/keyboardist Ryuichi Sakamoto. The groups 2001 debut Casa (Kab/Warner Music Japan/Sony Classical/Universal Music) earned them plaudits from music critics throughout the world, followed by another album, Live in Tokyo 2001 (Warner Music Japan), recorded at the Akasaka Act Theater, in Japan.In 2002, Paula is back in Tokyo for the concert Gets bossa-nova that also counted with special guests Roberto Menescal, Marcos Valle, Bossacucanova, Paulinho Moska, and Leny Andrade. In this same year, she tours with Morelenbaum2/Sakamoto, promoting the critically acclaimed album Casa in Europe and in the U.S.
This was followed up in 2003 by the release of A Day in New York (Kab/Sony Classical/Universal Music/Warner Music Japan), recorded in NYC in one single day, after the trios first world tour. The CD earned them the 2004 Tim Brazilian Music Award in the category Best Brazilian Music Group.The DVD 3 years (Warner Japan) 2003, illustrates the 3-year career of trio Morelenbaum2/Sakamoto with snapshots and excerpts from rehearsals, recordings, performances and casual, off-the-record moments captured around the world in studios, stages and on the road.In the same year, Paula is featured as a special guest appearance in the albums Nossa Bossa (BMG), produced by Celso Fonseca, and Conversations (Noon Productions), recorded in Amsterdam by Dutch group Vander Feen.
In 2004, Paula Morelenbaum released her second solo album, Berimbaum, (Mirante/Universal Music/Columbia), a tribute to the poet of bossa nova, Vinicius de Moraes. Framed within a modern, electro-acoustic concept, it has garnered warm acceptance both from the public and critics. The album was produced by Paula Morelenbaum in collaboration with Antonio Pinto, Leo Gandelman, Celso Fonseca, Bossacucanova and Beto Villares. For the live performances, Paula invited musicians Dudu Trentin (keyboards/samples), Fernando Caneca (acoustic guitar) and Alex Fonseca (drums/samples). The group has toured in Brazil and in Europe reaping wide acclaim and amassing excellent reviews for the concerts and the CD (released in Brazil, Italy, France, Spain, U.S., Argentina and Chile by Universal Music, in Portugal by Farol Música, and in Japan by Columbia Japan).
Now the time is ripe for Paula to step out on her own and earn her rightful place as one of the premiere interpreters of Brazilian popular music.
The opening track, Tomara, was the main musical theme of TV Globos prime-time soap opera Começar de novo, aired in 2004-05.In May 2005, Paula Morelenbaum promotes the release of Berimbaum in New York City with two concerts at Joes Pub that deserved an enthusiastic review penned by New York Times critic Jon Pareles. She also presented a concert at the New York Museum of Natural History an homage to Brazil and to composer Antonio Carlos Jobim produced by non-governmental organization The Nature Conservancy. In July, Paula is in Italy to promote her latest album, with performances booked in Rome and Palermo. By the end of the month, Paula is performing in a series of eight concerts at the Tokyo Blue Note, this time with Jaques Morelenbaums special guest. participation.
In the same year, Paula is featured as a special guest appearance in the album Vagabond (Virgin/EMI) by George Moustaki and in Jaques Morelenbaums movie soundtrack Paid, director Laurence Lamers. Among her most relevant concerts we can emphasize the one produced by the fundraising organization WCF, World Childhood Foundation, in São Paulo, with the presence of Queen Silvia of Sweden that founded it.
The end of this year was crowned by another European tour where Paula could visit other cities, thus expanding the promotion of her album Berimbaum.
