Silvia D'Atri Telles (; August 27, 1934 – December 17, 1966) was a Brazilian jazz

Samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

and Bossa Nova singer and composer of the 1950s and 1960s, considered one of the major artists of Bossa Nova and MPB. Most of her original recordings are out of print, though occasional compilations are released.

Life and career

Sylvia was born in 1934 in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, daughter of Paulo Telles and Maria Amelia D'Atri, her mother born in Paris of an Italian father and Brazilian mother. Her maternal grandfather Alessandro D'Atri was editor of the prestigious Révue du Brésil magazine published in Paris in French, Spanish and Italian from 1896. Her father was an aficionado of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

. Sylvia had the ambition to be a ballerina. She studied with Madeleine Rosay at the Teatro Municipal's corp de ballet in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, but she would also practice singing and playing the piano. In 1954, family friend Billy Blanco noticed her talent and introduced her to his associates in music, which led to launching her performing career in nightclubs. Around this time she met her first boyfriend

João Gilberto João Gilberto (born João Gilberto do Prado Pereira de Oliveira – ; 10 June 1931 – 6 July 2019) was a Brazilian guitarist, singer, and composer who was a pioneer of the musical genre of bossa nova in the late 1950s. Around the world, he w ...

, who four years later would himself revolutionize Brazilian music with the introduction of Bossa Nova, but the relationship did not last as the Telles family disdained the young strange Gilberto, then a vagabond artist without a regular permanent residence. Her singing attracted the attention of the

Odeon Records Odeon Records is a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. The label's name and logo come from the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe in Paris. History Straus a ...

, which signed her to an exclusive contract. Her 1955 release "Amendoim Torradinho" got significant airplay and led to the newspaper O Globo awarding her "Cantora Revelação de 1955" (loosely, "singer discovery of 1955"). Also that year she married musician/attorney José Cândido de Mello Mattos. The following year 1956, she and her husband hosted the program ''Música e Romance'' on TV Rio, featuring guests Tom Jobim, Dolores Duran, Johnny Alf and Billy Blanco. Sylvia gave birth to the couple's only daughter Cláudia Telles born August 26, 1957, who grew to become a singer/musician/composer in her own right, but Sylvia and Cândinho separated in 1958. That same year she was invited to perform in a show at Grupo Universitário Hebraico, with Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal among others, called "Carlos Lyra, Sylvia Telles e os seus Bossa nova" (Carlos Lyra, Sylvia Telles and their Bossa Nova"), which is thought to be the first use of the expression "bossa nova" ("the new thing"). It was the same year João Gilberto released what is considered the first Bossa Nova hit, "Chega de Saudade". Although Telles had preceded the advent of Bossa Nova, she began performing songs by such influential composers as

Antonio Carlos Jobim Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ...

, and worked with others such as

Luiz Bonfá Luiz Floriano Bonfá (17 October 1922 – 12 January 2001) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer. He was best known for the music he composed for the film '' Black Orpheus''. Biography Luiz Floriano Bonfá was born on October 17, 1922, in Ri ...

. She also did several tribute albums to

. One of the most famous classic Bossa Nova songs was written for her by Jobim, her nickname - " Dindi". By the early 1960s, she had made her first trip to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, recording "U.S.A." with

Barney Kessel Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups as well as a "first call" gu ...

(among others) for Philips. She also toured Switzerland, France and Germany. Her husband, producer Aloysio de Oliveira, proved instrumental in her later signing to Odeon and Elenco, two labels where he worked. They had married in Las Vegas in 1960, and separated in 1964. Telles had just recorded her second tribute to Jobim, 1966's ''The Music of Mr. Jobim'' (or Sings the Wonderful Songs of Antonio Carlos Jobim), and was travelling to a rustic weekend getaway with her boyfriend Horacinho de Carvalho before she was to fly to New York to work on an LP for

Kapp Records Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp (who set up American Decca Records in 1934). David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca and RCA Victor. Kapp licensed its records to L ...

. But on the way to the farm, Horacinho fell asleep at the wheel. It was the second time she had been in an asleep-at-the-wheel accident, surviving a minor one in 1964, but this time the car flipped several times, killing both of them. She was 32. Source:

Discography

*''Carícia'' (Odeon, 1957) *''Silvia'' (Odeon, 1958) *''Amor De Gente Moça: Musicas De Antonio Carlos Jobim'' (Odeon, 1959) *''Amor Em Hi-Fi'' (Philips, 1960) *''U.S.A.'' (Philips, 1961) *''Bossa Balanço Balada'' (Elenco, 1963) *''Bossa Session'' (Elenco, 1964) - with Lúcio Alves and Roberto Menescal e seu conjunto *''It Might As Well Be Spring'' (Elenco, 1966) - U.S. release: ''The Face I Love'' (Kapp Records) *''The Music Of Mr. Jobim By Sylvia Telles'' (Elenco, 1966) - U.S. release: ''Sylvia Telles Sings The Wonderful Songs Of Antonio Carlos Jobim'' (Kapp Records) *''Reencontro'' (Elenco, 1966) - with Edu Lobo, Trio Tamba, and Quinteto Villa-Lobos

References

1934 births 1966 deaths Brazilian bossa nova singers Brazilian jazz singers Brazilian women jazz singers 20th-century Brazilian women singers 20th-century Brazilian singers Road incident deaths in Brazil Portuguese-language singers of Brazil {{Jazz-singer-stub