I believe it´s almost impossible to assign a label to any kind of music. But I will dare to label Joyce´s work: It has the face of Rio de Janeiro. Sometimes calm, sometimes fuzzy, sometimes happy, sometimes introspective but always beautiful.
Joyce Silveira Moreno, a.k.a. Joyce, was defined by Down Beat magazine a couple of years ago as a “Brazilian treasure.” I dare to state that they are wrong. Joyce is a Worldwide treasure. Born in Rio de Janeiro, four-times Grammy nominee, singer, composer, arranger, teacher, and instrumentalist Joyce Moreno has authored more than 400 songs, interpreted by the greatest names in Brazilian popular music.
In order to give you a glimpse of Joyce’s presence, I selected two YouTube videos: the first one is a chapter of Nelson Faria´s “Um Café Lá em Casa” (excellent You Tube channel, look for it…) featuring Nelson on guitar and Joyce singing “Monsieur Binot”, one of her signature songs in a very relaxed way.
The other video is a beautiful song by Joyce with amazing lyrics of Ana Terra, “Essa Mulher”. This 2006 recording was done during a Berklee College of Music presentation featuring a student band and Helio Alves on piano.
I also selected a Spotify playlist as a sample of Joyce´s work: older songs recorded around Bossa Nova’s golden years and newer work which was mostly produced out of Brazil. Like many other Brazilian musicians and singers, Joyce´s work is today much more praised in foreign lands than in-home… anyway hope you enjoy.
Brazil Drops 