Raíces is a VL Friday feature saluting Latino music icons of days gone by.

I am not a musician, but as a different kind of artist, music is very important to me. The idea for Raíces comes from that; and the fact that I found that many of the Latino musicians that have most impacted my life are largely unknown by the US Latino population.

One of my most cherished artists is the late Elis Regina. An icon in Brazil, she is mostly known here in the United States because of her bossa nova recordings and collaborations with Antonio Carlos Jobim. This is unfortunate, because her range went way beyond bossa nova; indeed, some of her more inspiring music is much darker, with her voice giving life to the work of some of Brazil’s most talented poets, dealing with the topics of social complacency, politics, hopelessness and of course, love.

Elis’ darker love songs are not what you’d get from a bossa nova artist. There is a gravitas in her delivery that at times borders on disturbing. And it’s probably this darkness that played a part in her not having the mainstream appeal in the U.S. of her contemporary Astrud Gilberto.

Elis was a firecracker. Born extremely poor in Porto Alegre, her nickname was first “pinmentinha” (little pepper) then “furacão” (hurricane) because of her spunk. Like any good Cinderella story, she rose from the depths of poverty to become a symbol for her country — Elis was Brazil.

Her personal life was as turbulent as her musical style. After success, loves, losses and with love again in her life, Brazil and the world lost her to a fatal mix of drugs and alcohol in 1982 at the age of 36.

A lot of people say that to “get started” in Elis’ music, it’s best to begin with her bossa nova tunes, as they are more “digestible”. I disagree. I recommend starting with the amazing “Vento de Maio”. This posthumous compilation is the best introduction to Elis’ powerful voice, in my opinion, with deep poetry composed by greats such as Milton Nascimento and Telo Borges.

Elis Regina full biography

Elis Regina Blog (in Portuguese)