Silvia D'Atri Telles (; August 27, 1934 – December 17, 1966) was a Brazilian jazz samba and bossa nova singer of the 1950s and 1960s.

Life

Daughter of Paulo Telles and Maria Amelia D'Atri, Sylvia was born in 1934 and she had the ambition to be a ballet dancer. She studied with Madeleine Rosay at the Teatro Municipal's corp de ballet in Rio de Janeiro, but she would also practice singing and playing the piano. Telles preceded the advent of bossa nova, and began covering 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 ma ...

, 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 ...

. She also did several tribute albums to

. One of the most famous classic bossa nova songs was written for her by Jobim, its namesake her nickname - "

Dindi "Dindi" ( - which sounds like Jin-jee in English) is a song composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim, with lyrics by Aloysio de Oliveira. It is a world-famous bossa nova and jazz standard song. Jobim wrote this piece especially for the Brazilian singer ...

". By the early 1960s, she had made her first trip to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, recording U.S.A. with Barney Kessel (among others) for Philips. Her husband, producer Aloysio de Oliveira, proved instrumental in her later signing to Odeon and Elenco, two labels where he worked. 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), when she was killed in a car accident at the age of 32. Telles is the mother of singer, musician and songwriter Claudia Telles, born August 26, 1957.

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 Roberto Menescal (born October 25, 1937) is a Brazilian composer, record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and pioneer of bossa nova. In many of his songs there are references to the sea, including his best-known composition "O Barquinho" ("Little Bo ...

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 Eduardo de Góes "Edu" Lobo (born August 29, 1943) is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and composer. In the 1960s he was part of the bossa nova movement. His compositions include ''Upa Neguinho'' (with Gianfrancesco Guarnieri), ''Pra Dizer Ad ...

, Trio Tamba, and Quinteto Villa-Lobos

References

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