Florida USA – Tribute to 60 years of Bossa Nova – Focus Brasil 2018 Florida

Three nations unite – the USA, Australia and Brazil – to celebrate the music of Perth-based Brazilian singer/songwriter Juliana Areias. Her album “Bossa Nova Baby” is winner of Best Brazilian Music Album released in the U.S. at the Focus Brasil Awards in Florida.

Juliana Areias has just been announced as winner of Focus Brasil Awards in Florida 2019, receiving the award of Best Brazilian Music Album released in the U.S., for her first original album “Bossa Nova Baby”. The album was produced in Perth, Western Australia with the support of the Department of the Culture and the Arts (now called Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries – DLGSC). DLGSC is also supporting Juliana Areias to travel to receive the award and perform at the Focus Brasil Red Carpet Gala Ceremony at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, in Florida on Saturday 11 May 2019. Back in Perth, she will celebrate at her next show at the Ellington Jazz Club, her favourite Australian Jazz venue, on Friday the 24th of May.

Juliana Areias’ Bossa Nova Baby album is available on all digital platforms including Spotify, Youtube  and web; www.julianaareias.com

After enthralling audiences across the USA, Australia, Japan , Europe and Brazil,  Juliana Areias, the “Bossa Nova Baby” celebrates  her award for Best Brazilian Album released in the USA at the Focus Brasil Awards in Florida.

In 2018, Juliana Areias, along with her partner Cybernetics Artist Geoffrey Drake-Brockman and her kids Jobim and Lilas, embarked on the adventure of living in Manhattan for several months to promote their artistic works. Juliana Areias performed and promoted her Bossa Nova Baby album in New York, California, Florida, New Jersey and Washington DC.

“After all the craziness of interrupting our work lives and the kids school routine by moving for months in the USA, with the loves of my life, my partner and my kids, to promote our artistic works there – and investing so much courage, energy, money, time, hard work and emotion – it is humbly gratifying to be among so many amazing artists at this award… Including the superstar prima-ballerina Ana Botafogo and opera singer Thiago Arancam, my dear Ivo de Carvalho and Yamandu Costa and my idol Antonio Adolfo (composer of “Pretty World/Sa Marina” as covered by Steve Wonder in 1971, by Ivete Sangalo in 2011 and many others). Congratulations to all the nominees and winners! To be alongside you is an enormous privilege… Thank you to the team at Focus Brasil Foundation and to all our old and new friends in the USA for opening your doors, your arms and your hearts, welcoming us so well… Thank you so much my beloved  Perth City and all who helped to give birth to this Bossa Nova Baby. Thank you all who have listened to or will listen to this album made with so much love…  I am eternally grateful to all of you…” – Juliana Areias thanks and celebrates her award win.

Sao Paulo born Juliana was personally introduced to the Bossa Nova founders when she was a teenager by legendary Brazilian Music historian and journalist Ruy Castro who also nicknamed her “The Bossa Nova Baby”. This direct exposure and unique experience inspired her to become a professional singer and songwriter.

Juliana Areias left Brazil in 1996 and she has been living in Perth, Australia since 2007. Perth, the most isolated capital of the world, is where she has produced her first original album “Bossa Nova Baby” with the support of the Department of the Culture and the Art of Western Australia and a crowdfunding campaign. The album features some of the best Australian Jazz musicians including seven-string guitarist Doug De Vries and many Jazz lecturers from WAAPA – the best Jazz University in Australia located in Perth, including bassist, arranger and producer Pete Jeavons and the late pianist Graham Wood.

The Bossa Nova Baby album presents a dialogue between Bossa Nova and other music genres such as pop, jazz and tango – creating a contemporary Latin Jazz musical fusion which is taking the Australian and the International music scene by storm. It was praised by Roberto Menescal, one of the creator of Bossa Nova and it was also declared as the “new face of Australian Music” by ABC Radio National.  The twelve songs of the album talk about places, people, sounds and stories from Juliana’s wonderful current life in Perth as well as reminisce about her past in Brazil, Switzerland and New Zealand. The album features songs including Maré Cheia / Full Tide (a pop-funk tune about the Yemanjá – queen of the sea in Afro-Brazilian Mythology); Flecha / Arrow (a samba-jazz tribute to Rio de Janeiro City);  Garoto de Copacabana / Boy from Copacabana (a bossa tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim, composer of the iconic The Girl From Ipanema); Missão / Mission (a samba dedicated to the Samba de Gafieira Dance community in Perth); Belas Artes / Fine Artes (a choro about her love Geoffrey Drake-Brockman’s artworks and artistic inspirations in Perth).

Juliana Areias has performed on major stages internationally including the Sydney Opera House, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London, the Green Room in New York, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, The Fukiagi Hall in Japan, the Auckland Festival in New Zealand and the legendary Beco das Garrafas in Rio de Janeiro as well as an audience of 30,000 at the Ritmo Festival in Darling Harbour.