Fabiana Masili is a vocalist and songwriter who plays a range of Brazilian music, including bossa nova, samba, maracatu, and forró, as well as jazz and rock. Since moving to New York City in 2003, she has worked with a diverse roster of artists, including Claudio Roditi, Cidinho Teixeira, Dom Salvador, Slide Hampton, Jeremy Pelt, and Nation Beat, and created an all-female psychedelic rock band called As Lolas. She has performed at such venues as Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, SummerStage, Joe’s Pub at The Public, and Lincoln Center Out of Doors. She is also dedicated to her work as a teaching artist, sharing Brazilian music and culture with New York City’s students.
The many interconnected styles of Brazilian popular music emerged from different regions of the country, building on musical traditions brought to Brazil by enslaved Africans with European elements introduced by the Portuguese in colonial times. The two songs in this unit focus on the samba, the most iconic of Brazilian musical styles, which is closely associated with Brazil’s Carnival parades.
Originally from Rio Claro, near São Paulo in eastern Brazil, Fabiana started out as a flutist and pianist, learning first from her mother who played the organ. Fabiana studied voice at the prestigious University of Campinas in Brazil, then came to the US in 2001 to study at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, California. Two years later, she moved to New York and has been performing ever since with a range of artists in many Brazilian styles, including samba, bossa nova, forró, and axé, as well as jazz and rock.
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