Jussara Silveira

Jussara Silveira launched her career in 1980 and has maintained an unwavering focus on MPB free of commercial concessions. Born and raised in Salvador, Bahia, she has channeled much of her energy into interpreting songs by Bahian composers. During the 1980s she shared stages with Gilberto Gil and contributed vocals to Caetano Veloso’s 1981 album Outras Palavras; she also sang with the Bloco Eva before later collaborating with Ivete Sangalo. In 1989 she relocated from Salvador to São Paulo and subsequently to Rio de Janeiro, where she appeared at the MASP, Crowne Plaza, and Sesc Pompéia in the former city and at Teatro Ipanema in the latter. Her version of Caetano Veloso’s “Dama do Cassino,” featured on the anthology Elas Cantam Caetano, entered the soundtrack of the Globo telenovela Irmãos Coragem and reached the Top Ten on Rádio Jornal do Brasil. After receiving the Copene de Cultura e Arte prize in 1996, she issued her debut album, the independently produced Jussara Silveira, which critics hailed as the arrival of a fresh Bahian talent. Dubas Music reissued the recording the following year. Her second release, Canções de Caymmi, likewise earned widespread critical acclaim.