Claudette Soares

Claudette Soares debuted in radio at age ten on the Clube do Guri show (Rádio Tamoio). After a short while she worked for several radio stations and was given the title Princezinha do Baião (The Little Princess of Baião) for her duet performances with the King of Baião, Luís Gonzaga. She recorded the first 78 rpm in 1954 (dedicated to the baião), and became the crooner of the renowned nightclub of the Hotel Plaza (important meeting point of the musicians interested in jazz and the place where samba jazz was widely practiced), working with Luiz Eça. In 1960, abandoning the baião and embracing the samba jazz and the bossa nova, she worked in the TV Excelsior (São Paulo) and in several nightclubs of that city. With Pedrinho Mattar, Soares performed in the show Um Show de Show. Her first solo album, dedicated to bossa nova, came in 1964, Claudete é Dona da Bossa. She also worked with Taiguara and the Jongo Trio in a successful show in 1966 which was recorded live and released as an LP. Soares also participated in the IFIC (International Song Festival) with “Chorar e Cantar.” She has continued to perform and record, and her latest albums are representative of several phases of her career: baião, Tropicália, bossa nova and 1960s MPB are all represented. ~ Alvaro Neder