Luciana Mello

From an early age, Luciana Mello—daughter of Jair Rodrigues and sister of Jairzinho Oliveira—joined children’s choirs for various studio sessions. After studying voice and dance, she appeared in musical productions throughout her teenage years. Following her work on the Artistas Reunidos project alongside Oliveira, Wilson Simoninha, Max de Castro, and Pedro Mariano, she issued her debut solo album, Assim Que Se Faz, at age 21 in 2001; the set found an audience with “Assim Que Se faz” (Daniel Carlomagno), “Simples Desejo” (Oliveira Oliveira/Daniel Carlomagno), “Ela Disse Sim” (Ed Motta/Nelson Motta), “Se” (Djavan), and “Calados” (Jairzinho Oliveira). She scored further attention with “Nascente” (Flávio Venturini/Murilo Antunes), supported by Roupa Nova. In 2002 she shared a bill with Rodrigues and Oliveira at Rio’s Rival theater. That same year she contributed a version of Cartola’s “As Rosas Não Falam” to the compilation Um Barzinho, Um Violão, which also featured Ed Motta, Toquinho, Leila Pinheiro, Simone, Ivette Sangalo, Biquíni Cavadão, and Kid Abelha among its performers.