|
Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZREGINA, Elis(b '45, Porto Alegre, Brazil; d Jan. '82 of a cocaine overdose) Outstanding Brazilian singer, whose passionate performance, turbulent lifestyle and early death were reminiscent of Judy Garland. Born into a poor gaucho family, when she broke into the Rio and S]ata[o Paulo musical worlds she was still a gauche and insecure teenager, though she already had three albums of boleros and ballads to her name (Viva a brotolƒndia '61, Poema '62, O Bem do Amor '63). She mastered a wide range of styles and won a song festival singing 'Arrast]ata[o', by Edu Lobo and Vinicius de Moraes. Her TV programme O Fino da Bossa was a rival to Jovem Guarda, which featured singer Roberto Carlos. Her live show with Jair Rodrigues, Dois na Bossa, was recorded twice, a pot-pourri of styles. Her early interpretations of young and at the time not well-known songwriters, not always well received by the public, now reads like an ABC of Brazilian popular music '65--82: she sang the music of Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil during their exile, was the first to record Milton Nascimento, and recorded Tim Maia and the works of the Jo]ata[o Bosco/Aldir Blanc team, who regularly wrote for her. She was one of the first Brazilian singers to work on presentation and forceful gestures in performance; her S]ata[o Paulo show, Falso Brilhante, ran for over 200 performances. She embarked on an up-and-down marriage '68--72 with composer Ronaldo B“scoli, until then a sworn enemy; the album Elis e Tom '74 marked a reconciliation with another alienated composer, Tom Jobim. She is still widely regarded in Brazil, which is not short of good singers, as the best ever interpreter of her country's songs. Several albums on Polygram Latino, Verve and other labels are available; the best compilation is Fascina‡]ata[o. Phil Woods's Astor And Elis on Chesky was a tribute. |