Lucas Santtana

Lucas Santtana, born in Bahia in 1970, is a musician with a compelling background that merges popular and classical culture. A follower of candomblé (a Brazilian sect of an African cult), since childhood, Lucas Santtana was brought up among Afro-Brazilian rhythm.

At the age of 15, he enrolled into a pioneer music school in Salvador, where musical theory was taught through scores of Tom Jobim, Dorival Caymmi, Joao Gilberto and others.

Later on, he graduated from the University of Bahia, where he had contact with classical music and composers such as Bach, Stockhausen, Stravinsky, Debussy, Mozart, Anton von Weber... During his studies, he traveled around Brazil, getting involved in Young Orchestras, and also played with a Cuban band in music fl oats around Bahia.

In 1993, Lucas Santtana got a scholarship from the Karlshure School of Music (Germany) but he preferred to accept the invitation to join Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil on tour for the album ‘Tropicália 2’. The following year, he was invited by Gilberto Gil to record the album Gilberto Gil Unplugged MTV, a job he maintained for three and a half years, having participated in two tours of Europe, North, South and
Central America.

His solo career started in the year 2000, with the album ‘Eletro Ben Dodô’, produced by the renowned Chico Neves and mixed in Realworld Studio of Peter Gabriel. The album was praised by critics in Brazil and in important musical publications around the world like Village Voice, Down beat and Chicago Tribune (EUA); Le Monde and Vibrations (France); Latino and Esquire (Japan), apart from having been included in a select list of the best ten independent albums in the year 2000 by The New York Times.

“...Mr. Santtana is a musician supremely conscious of his cultural coordinates...This is artist who know’s he’s postmodern, and who sees his reflection in a country where postmoderninsm is an act of historical
consciousness, rather than merely of solipsism. Fiercely literate about the popular music not only of Brazil but also North America, Mr. Santtana smashes Net-surfing lingo up against scenarious of the urban poor, trying to conjure a natural synthesis of ancient and futuristic...”
Ben Ratliff –The New York Times, july 5, 2000

“...As a flautist, Santtana worked alongside Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso (on Tropicalia 2). He also co-wrote a song (“Abololo”) on Monte’s recent disc. Santtana’s own CD shows why he’s been in such demand--great compositions harmonize a wide tableau of sources. Electronica and trip-hop fade in and out alongside flute, string and percussion that derive from Santtana’s native Bahia state’s rituals...”
Aaron Cohen – Down Beat, March 2001

In July 2003 Lucas Santtana launched his second album, called ‘Parada de Lucas’, which is dedicated to the geographer Milton Santos. Just like his first album, ‘Parada de Lucas’ was praised by the main newspapers and magazines in Brazil and once again got its space in the New York Times.

“...This is a smart dance-floor album, Brazilian-style. Mr. Santtana, a young singer-songwriter from Bahia, has his circuits open to the international web of Afro-Brazilian rhythm, West African high life, Cuban funk, reggae and electronics...... his second album, “Parada de Lucas” (Diginois, available at www.dustygroove.com) is full of incredibly catchy music, and he doesn’t take machines for granted...“
Ben Ratliff –The New York Times, august 12, 2003
“...While Santtana brings together Brazilian drumming and the berimbau whit eletrônica on “Quando Você e eu”, his most telling statement is trough his voice. Rather than charging whit the eletronic blast on “No Intuto,” he sounds positively human in floating above it all...”
Aaron Cohen – Down Beat, May 2004

As a musician, he played a part in albums of Chico Science and Nação Zumbi, Marisa Monte, Fernanda Abreu, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil.

As a composer, he had some of his songs recorded by Marisa Monte, Fernanda Abreu, and Arto Lindsay.

He also created the soundtrack for the award winning play ‘Bispo’, by the actor João Miguel, and participated in the soundtrack of the film ‘Deus é brasileiro’, by the director Cacá Diegues

Now Lucas Santtana launched his new album, called ‘”3 sessions in a greenhouse”. Just like his others albuns, ‘”3 sessions in a greenhouse”, was praised by the main newspapers and magazines in Brazil and once again got its space recently in the New York Times.

“...One of the best of the younger Brazilian rock musicians and songwriters is back with his third album, “3 Sessions in a Greenhouse.” Mr. Santtana comes from Bahia, and his whole world is the crossed wires of Afro-Brazilian rhythm, samba, dub reggae, rock and funk. If that sounds like a contrived fusion, you should gauge the power of this record. Here the high, scratchy strumming of the cavaquinho shares space with deep, cropped bass lines, and Jamaican-style horn arrangements with atmospheric guitar noise. It’