Téka

A native of Londrina, Brazil, vocalist, guitarist and arranger Téka, mastered the traditions of Brazilian music at an early age. Along the way, she became equally entranced by American jazz. 

As her artistry grew, her talented singing and guitar playing fused the sensual rhythms and harmonies of Brazil with the sophistication and improvisation of jazz – a fascinating musical blend she calls New Bossa. 

After graduating in Music Education from São Paulo University, Téka studied at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. 

Téka has performed and recorded with Brazilian legends Hermeto Pascoal, Gilberto Gil, Flora Purim and Airto Moreira as well as Grammy award winner and Academy Award nominated pianist/composer Roger Kellaway. 

In a highly inspiring venture into classical music, Téka appeared as the contralto soloist with the Santa Barbara Oratorio Chorale in the California premiere and subsequent performances of “Canto General” by Mikis Theodorakis and Pablo Neruda. 

She has been featured as soloist with The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, The San Luis Obispo Symphony Orchestra, and The Glendale Pops Orchestra. She performs regularly at International Jazz Festivals and at some of Los Angeles, Boston’s, New York’s and Europe’s best-known jazz venues. 

Her first CD, Garden Planet, included original music with an environmental theme. Both Garden Planet and her second release, Watercolours of Brazil, received high praise from critics and audiences.  Reviewing those first two albums, The Los Angeles Times wrote that, “Like João Gilberto, Téka brings everything into a unified expression, combining her vocal lines and rhythmic guitar accompaniments into a single, elegantly buoyant musical blend.” 

“The ease with which she controls her instrument, her flawless intonation and time and her ability to treat gentle ballads and spirited up-tempo tunes with the same musical grace, are hallmarks of her gift.” 

Her latest release, So Many Stars, was described by the International Review of Music as “a definitive statement that she has matured into a gifted, world-class musical artist  - to each song, results in a marvelously intimate CD which shows her warm, nuanced voice to advantage. ” Téka has a summer evening breeze quality to her voice always. She is as smoooooooooooth as bossa nova can be and that is very smooth indeed.”