Luciana Souza

Music career

A native of São Paulo, Brazil, Souza is the daughter of poet Tereza Souza and musician Walter Santos. She began her career at the age of three by recording jingles for commercials. In 1988, she graduated with a degree in jazz composition from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. She received a master's degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1994. She has taught at Berklee and The Manhattan School of Music and was Jazz Artist in Residence with San Francisco Performances from 2004 to 2010.

Souza has performed classical music with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart; chamber music with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the American Composer's Orchestra; and new music with composers Derek Bermel and Patrick Zimmerli.

In jazz and pop, she has worked with Gil Goldstein, Osvaldo Golijov, Herbie Hancock, Fred Hersch, Guillermo Klein, Hermeto Pascoal, John Patitucci, Romero Lubambo, Donny McCaslin, Bobby McFerrin, Vince Mendoza, Danilo Perez, Maria Schneider, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Ben Wendel, David Binney, Kenny Werner, Kenny Wheeler, and Miguel Zenon.

She is a founding member of Moss, a vocal group with Theo Bleckmann, Peter Eldridge, Lauren Kinhan, and Kate McGarry. Since 2006, she has been married to record producer Larry Klein.

Awards and honors

Souza won a Grammy Award in 2007 as a featured vocalist on Herbie Hancock's album River: The Joni Letters. She was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Brazilian Duos (2003), North and South (2004), Duos II (2006), Tide (2010), and The Book of Chet (2013). She was nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album for Duos III (2013).

Souza was named Female Singer of the Year in 2005 and 2013 by the Jazz Journalists Association.

Discography

As featured vocalist