While most of the world celebrates Valentine's Day on Feb. 14, Brazil's version, which is known as Dia dos Namorados — literally, "the day of the enamored" — doesn't come around until June 12. But the lady known as the "Ella Fitzgerald of Brazil" evidently enjoys having the best of both worlds.
On Feb. 13, legendary samba-jazz style singer Leny Andrade will give just two "Valentine's Day Special Concerts" at the Yotsuya Kumin Hall in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, and they are sure to put the capital in the mood for romance.
Andrade, who has been singing professionally at nightclubs since the age of 15, is now nearing her 70th birthday. In the course of her career she has lived and worked in Mexico, Europe and the United States, and she has been followed by acclaim. It was legendary crooner Tony Bennett who made the Ella Fitzgerald comparison, and others have also compared her to the late Sarah Vaughan.
More recently, Andrade's 2007 album "Ao Vivo," recorded with pianist Cesar Camargo Mariano, won a Latin Grammy Award for the Best Brazilian Popular Music Album.
Andrade will be performing in Tokyo with the five-piece jazz band Sambop — the same group with which she won first prize at the 2008 Kaunas International Jazz Festival in Lithuania.
Leny Andrade and Sambop will perform two concerts on Feb. 13, at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m, at Yotsuya Kumin Hall, 87 Naitomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo. Tickets are available from Ticket Pia. For further details visit www.lenyandrade.tupiniquim.jp.
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