Becoming the stepdaughter of the saxophonist Booker Pittman at 11, was profoundly influenced and encouraged by him to become an artist. He was her first music teacher, and some years later she debuted at the Little Club in Beco das Garrafas (Rio). In 1963, she went to Argentina, where she spent a season at the Philips Casino. Upon her return, recorded with Booker the LP New Sound Brazil Bossa Nova. Invited by Jack Paar to perform on his TV show in New York, moved to the U.S together with Booker and her mother Ofélia. Hired by the Playboy Clubs, she toured 14 American states, returning to Brazil in 1965 for a national tour. Her first hit was "Tristeza" (Niltinho), recorded in 1966. After a period of depression caused by her stepfather's serious illness, she returned to music with the LP É Preciso Cantar (loosely "It's Necessary to Sing"), performing a show of the same title at the Teatro de Bolso (Rio). The first time a samba-enredo was a commercial success was when recorded "O Mundo Encantado de Monteiro Lobato," originally performed by Mangueira in 1967. From 1968 to 1971, playing throughout Argentina, Venezuela, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Italy, France, and Spain. In Cannes, France, she was invited, together with , to be the official hostess of the MIDEM. During that period, she worked as an actress in the film Capitães de Areia, a French production about the life of Jorge Amado. She had another hit in 1972 with "Esse Mar é Meu" (João Nogueira). Alternating periods of seclusion with eventual appearances, in 2001 she opened a new season in Rio. ~ Alvaro Neder

Eliana Pitman

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