Rita Ribeiro

Rita Ribeiro was born in Maranhao and, after living in Sao Luis, where her career started off, she debuted as 96’s Brazilian music breakthrough artist. In 1997, already in Sao Paulo, she recorded her debut and self-entitled album, produced by Mario Manga and Zeca Baleiro. The album and the concert, both entitled Rita Ribeiro, provided the Maranhao-native singer national renown. In 1998, she signed a record deal with MZA Music, owned by Marco Mazzola, and, still under the supervision of conductor Mario Manga, she released, in 1999, her very-well-accepted-by-public-and-critics sophomore album, Pérolas aos Povos. That same year of 1999, along with Ney Matogrosso, Milton Nascimento, Zeca Baleiro and Chico Cesar, she performed on the Brazilian night at the Montreux Jazz Festival, in Switzerland, and was invited to perform at the Festival Brasil – Caracas, in Venezuela, accomplishing great international renown in her musical path.

In 2000, keeping up the release and the promotion of the album “Perola aos Povos”, Rita Ribeiro was invited to perform at the Festival Todos Os Cantos do Mundo, sharing the stage with Lokua Kanza, one of the biggest African pop singers. That same year her album was released in the USA and Canada by Putumayo World Music Records, resulting in a August-September tour in the mains American and Canadian cities, such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto and Montreal, for 15-thousand-people-or-so audiences. All that resulted in a nomination for Best Latin Pop Album Of The Year at the 43rd Grammy Awards, in February 2001. That same year she released her third album, Comigo, produced by Marco Mazzola and co-produced by her and her partner Pedro Mangabeira, distributed by Abril Music.

In October 2003 they stared the Tecnomacumba concert season that went all the way to December 2005, the same year Rita won the award for Rival Petrobrás de Melhor Show.

In 2006 Rita Ribeiro released her album Tecnomacumba by her own label Manaxica Producoes, produced by her and Israel Dantas and distributed by Biscoito Fino Record. The album as well as the concert are a celebration for black and native-Brazilian people; an odd to what Brazilian popular music and electronic music inherited from African and native Brazilians. Rita Ribeiro aims to show that the bases of the MPB and of the electronic music is the ancient musicality of the Candomblé yards, Umbanda temples beats and the xangos spread around the world.

Over 70.000 people have already seen the concert that was on for 4 years in Rio de Janeiro with very special guests stars, such as Ney Matogrosso, Alcione, Beth Carvalho, Teresa Cristina, Carlos Malta, Daude, Mart´nalia, Marco Suzano and Sandra de Sá, all very well accepted by public and critics.

The project has been approved according to de Rouanet law in oder to record a DVD and go on tour in the main Brazilian capital cities.