TOQUINHO & MARIA CREUZA
July 16, 2016 - 8:30 pm

Toquinho and Maria Creuza are two living legends of Brazilian music and the favorite interpreters of Vinicius de Moraes, the founding father of Bossa Nova, with Brazil’s most famous hits : “Garota de Ipanema”, “Tristeza”, “Vocé Abusou”,…  Supported by 5 musicians, their show at Byblos will be a beautiful and sensual time travel to the heart and soul of Bossa Nova.

ANTONIO PECCI FILHO

Antônio Pecci Filho, better known as Toquinho, is a Brazilian singer and guitarist well known for his collaborations, as composer and performer, with Vinicius de Moraes.

Having started playing in colleges, Toquinho’s professional career took off in the 1960s at shows promoted by radio personality Walter Silva at the famous Paramount Theatre in São Paulo. He released several songs at the start of his career such as “Lua Cheia” (Full Moon), and his real first big hit “Que Maravilha” (What a Wonder) was composed in 1970 with Jorge Ben Jor, famous composer of “Mas Que Nada”.

During that same year he was invited by Vinícius de Moraes, co-writer with Antônio Carlos Jobim of the worldwide hit song “Garota de Ipanema” (The Girl from Ipanema), to participate in a series of shows in Buenos Aires, forming a solid partnership that would continue for 11 years and produce 120 songs, 25 records and over a thousand shows which enchanted listeners wherever they performed. Also invited to participate on tour was Vinicius de Moraes’ favorite interpreter, Maria Creuza.

MARIA CREUZE

Creuza is mainly recognized for her list of successes such as “Você Abusou” later translated and performed by Michel Fugain “Fais Comme l’Oiseau”, “Festa no terreiro de Alaketu” or  “Mas que Doidice”, written by Antônio Carlos Pinto (her husband) and Jocafi, “Eu disse adeus”, “Pois é” and “Eu sei que vou te amar”. Having achieved local popularity as the crooner of the group Les Girls, Maria Creuza started to perform in radio and TV, hosting the show ‘Encontro com Maria Creuza’ for four years which eventually led her to getting hired by a local label.

Throughout the golden age of the 1970s, Creuza released numerous hit singles including songs such as “Se não houvesse María” & “Abolição” and performed at festivals across Brazil before eventually teaming up with Moraes and Toquinho for the legendary tour in Uruguay and Argentina.

It was during that tour that the combined forces of Creuza, Moraes and Toquinho recorded the famous live LP  “Vinicius En La Fusa com Maria Creuza e Toquinho”, considered as the birth album of Bossa Nova.

Following the death of Vinicius De Moraes in 1980, Toquinho went on to pursue a solo career that saw him performing alongside the likes of Paulinho Da Viola, Danilo Caymmi, Paulinho Nogueira and Chico Buarque. He continues to record albums and play his music around the world and remains one of Brazil’s most acclaimed artists. Meanwhile Maria Creuza has continued touring since then and, despite her numerous solo successes, still performs a majestic tribute to the fallen artistic godfather Moraes alongside Toquinho.