Elza Soares

“Vivo Feliz!” “I live happily!” is the motto of the 67-year-old bedrock of Samba, Elza Soares. She belts out the Sambas with a magnificently raw voice, scats with contagious passion, and then lets herself go again in smooth gentleness. Her songs move between party, protest, and etnopop. Grown up in the favelas, a widow at 18, later the scandalous mistress of pre-Pélé soccer legend Garrincha, in the 60s and 70s Elza Soares won a huge audience with her singing. And that was not enough: In 1997, she celebrated a spectacular comeback with electric producers and Hip Hop MCs.