JOYCE

Joyce was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Known as the muse of the bossa nova second-generation or "post-bossa-nova generation," she is one of Brazil's representative singer-songwriters. Joyce debuted in Rio's International Song Festival in 1967. Subsequent to the release of her 1968 debut album "Joyce"and by "Encontro Marcado" in 1969, Joyce took a five-year break from the stage light to enjoy her new married life. In the mid 70s she danced to the forefront of the music scene with a tour of invigorating and moving performances through Argentina, Uruguay, and Europe. In 1979, Brazil's famous songstress Ellis Regina made Joyce's composition "Essa Mulher" (That Woman) a big hit, bringing Joyce into the singer/songwriter limelight. In the 1980s, she released an ambitious production combining a collection of hits by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes.

In the 1990s, she delivered jazz fusion albums under the American fusion label Verve Forecast, including "Music Inside" and "Language and Love" (both under Universal Music). Joyce received rave reviews for her stage performances in European and American clubs. She blazed a trail through London, England which was enjoying a major boom in Brazilian music at the time. A genius proficient in five languages, Joyce left clear footprints in a number of European countries, and in 1994 she celebrated her 25th year in music. Hometown mates Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, and Wanda Sa all contributed to her commemorative album "Tomo to Futatabi" (Toshiba EMI). Riding the wave of this release, in 1996 she dedicated the 1996 release of "Ilha Brazil," to Antonio Carlos Jobim. In her following 1998 effort "Astronauta" (both albums released by Omagatoki), backed by strong jazz musicians like Dori Caymmi, Joe Lovano, and Mulgrew Miller, Joyce challenges work by Ellis Regina, but does so in an innovative manner true to a second generation artist. Ever since her Blue Note Tokyo debut in 1991, Joyce also worked as a "navigator" introducing homegrown talent. In 2003 she released "Bossa Duets" (Sony Music Japan International) in collaboration with artists from her stomping ground. Joyce has been vigorously promoting the emerging careers of her eldest daughter Clara Morena and second daughter Ana Martins. Her latest work "Rio Bahia" (Victor Entertainment) is a masterpiece that brings together the originality of Joyce and Dori Caymmi, who face off in earnest in Sao Paulo for the first time. Joyce's recent connections to the London clubbing scene can be felt in "Viva! Joyce, the Finest Collection", a best-of album compiled from her recordings on the Far Out label. Joyce last performed in Japan with Dori Caymmi in July 2005 so her visit this year is a very welcome event.

Joyce can be found on the Internet at http://www.joyce-brasil.com/

ROBERTO MENESCAL

Guitarist, composer, arranger, and producer Roberto Menescal was born on October 25, 1937 to a family of engineers and architects in Vittorio in the state of Espirito Santo, which is sandwiched between the states of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. Ignoring his parents' concerns, from a very earlier age he became skilled with a variety of instruments ranging from the nylon-string guitar, to the piano, as well as the accordion. Menescal took lessons in harmony and composition, idolizing American jazz guitarists like Barney Kessel. When Menescal met Carlos Lyra in high school, the two decided to start up a guitar classroom. Among the first students to rush to their class was Nara Leon. was Around the same time Ronaldo Boscoli, who before long would be playing together with Menescal in a well-known combo, began taking lessons with the other youth who joined the classes. Mid-1957 saw the emergence of Joan Gilberto, who was in the process of developing his own original style. Menescal, moved by the refreshingly unique guitar sound and lyrical style, took on the role of assisting Joan to explore further possibilities, and then went on to cultivate his own personal style of playing. In addition to befriending Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, Menescal continued to display his talents at the heart of the circle that gave birth to the genre we know as bossa nova. When bossa nova exploded onto the scene in the 1960s, Menescal was performing with young artists like Eumir Deodato, and in 1962, he took part in the Bossa Nova Festival held at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

After releasing the largely instrumental album "A Bossa Nova" (Universal) in 1963, Menescal poured his energy into his activities as a guitarist and arranger. In the 1970s, he was asked to take on a variety of jobs, one of them as a staff member at Polygram Records. For fifteen years up until around1986 Menescal devoted producer and art director talents to the development of Brazilian music. In 1984, Menescal resumed his performing activities as he produced an album together with Nara Leon. Their duo album "Um Cantinho E Um Violao" (Polygram) did very well. Standing at the vanguard of a bossa nova revival, he once again stood out as the brains behind the scenes through assisting in the debuts of outstanding artists such as Leila Pinheiro. In 1998, a year that was marked as the 40th anniversary of bossa nova, Menescal and the Wanda Sa band released "Estrada Tokyo-Rio" (Avex Trax) for the Japanese market. As the desire for the bossa nova sound was picking up in Japan, he took part in a wide range of activities, one of which included the making of an album whose theme was Zen. Menescal's latest effort, "Swingueira" (Columbia Music Entertainment) is a collaboration with Wanda Sa. His efforts in planning and production include "A Tribute to Zico: A Message from Brazil" (Pony Canyon) released under the Zico Label, where Roberto Menescal serves as an executive producer. For the compilation of this album Menescal collaborated with his son Marcio and daughter Marcella. This will be Roberto Menescal's first-ever appearance at the Blue Note Tokyo.

(Note: Titles above shown in English are overseas releases.)