Céu

Céu
Céu live in São Paulo on Aug 13, 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças
Born	(1980-04-17) April 17, 1980 (age 36)
Origin	São Paulo, Brazil
Genres	MPB, bossa nova, soul
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, percussion
Years active	2005-present
Labels	Urban Jungle, Six Degrees
Website	Céu
Members	Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças Lucas Martins Bruno Buarque DJ Marco Guilherme Ribeiro

Céu (Portuguese pronunciation: [sɛu]), whose full name is Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter whose first American album was released on the Six Degrees Records label in April 2007. She was born in São Paulo, Brazil on April 17, 1980, into a musical family, her father being a composer, arranger and musicologist. It was from her father that she learned to appreciate Brazil's classical music composers, particularly Heitor Villa-Lobos, Ernesto Nazaré and Orlando Silva.

By age fifteen she had decided to become a musician and by her late teens she had studied music theory, as well as the (nylon-stringed Brazilian guitar). Her songs reveal her many influences, which include samba, valsa, choro, soul, rhythm and blues, hip hop, afrobeat and electrojazz music.

As Céu herself explained, "I have a passion for Black culture, from Jazz divas to Afro beat. Everything comes from Africa. With Samba, I have a very strong connection to the old school that we call 'Samba de raiz' (root samba). I am a vinyl listener, so I tried to bring some of that to the CD, mixing it with modern things like rap or even 'brega', which is the newest thing in Brazil."