Welcome to Claudette Soares Official Website

laudette Soares, a Carioca, is like this: whenever you think she is quiet, singing the “standards” of her repertoire, all of a sudden she appears again with a number of songs. And these are the songs that have become the “standards”, i.e., the ones that are sung by all the other singers.

This happened when she started singing “Primavera” (Spring) by Carlinhos Lyra and Vinícius; “ A Volta” (The Return) by Menescal and Bôscoli; “O Amor é Chama” Love is Fire) by Marcos e Paulo Sérgio Valle; “ Tristeza de Nós Dois” Sadness of the Two of Us) by Durval Ferreira and Maurício Einhorn; “ Razão de Viver” (Reason to Live) by Eumir Deodato and Paulo Sérgio Valle; “ Coisas “ (Things) by Taiguara. Yes, it was, indeed, Claudette who has caused the beauty mentioned above to be among us until today.

Well, in relation to her style, I should say it is the same as her repertoire: she never stops. When she was not old enough to go out at night- let alone sing in discos- she was already singing in night clubs like Plaza, in Copacabana, which was considered the right place for Bossa Nova at that time.

rom there she went to “Beco das Garrafas and, despite the fact that she was really short- about 1.50cm- she became a hit together with people like Elis Regina and Leny.

Some years after this period, there she was-in São Paulo- becoming a big hit in the night clubs. She would even sit on top of the piano at João Sebastião Bar (just because she was not tall enough to be seen). Time went by and in the mid 90’s, when it seemed that she was already known as the great Bossa Nova singer, Claudette reappeared singing like Dalva de Oliveira (a great singer quite famous in the 50’s/60’s).She then attracted roaring audiences in Rio and São Paulo with her deep feelings and energy.

Oh, yeah… Claudette’s “standards”. If only our politicians could hear well, they would pass a law imposing upon Claudette Soares to record a CD once a year- with new songs, so that these songs are sung well from the very start.

By Ruy Castro (*)

(*) RUY CASTRO is a journalist, translater and writer. Author of, among others, "Chega de Saudade - A história e as histórias da Bossa Nova" ("No More Solitude - The Story and the stories of the Bossa Nova") (1990)