Anne Simoni

Recipient for AAA Artist of the Year – 20th Annual LA Music Awards

Anne Simoni’s Debut CD
Minas Terra

Brazilian singer and songwriter Anne Simoni’s exquisite debut CD displays a mastery of complex Brazilian rhythms including samba, bossa nova and baiao. Evoking a serene sense of place, Simoni’s songs are both biographical and inspirational, tracking the twists and turns of her life defined by love, loss, hope and renewal.

Many songs reflect the artist’s longing for her ancestral homeland, including the bewitching melody, “Minas Terra,” the album’s title song. Recalling her province, Minas Gerais (Land of the precious stone and gold mines), the song is a moving and tender anthem to the home she left behind, a sentiment echoed in the bossa nova ”Back to Brazil” (sung in English), in which she muses upon her return. The gentle samba “Áquas de Cambuquira,” conjures the natural fountains of mineral water found in the city of Cambuquira, the artist’s birthplace.

Powerful and haunting romantic ballads like “Este Sentimento” (This feeling) and “Longe de Mim” (Far from me) sung in Simoni’s signature seductive, sultry tone, express a yearning for emotional connection. These are counterpoised by infectious, upbeat danceable rhythms like the baiao tune “Papagaio,” about a Brazilian parrot locked in a cage, destined to learn English rather than its native Portuguese, and “Unidos da Lavra,” a samba evocative of the authentic carnival parade.

Featuring Sergio Mendes musicians Carlos Yutaka on keyboards, Kleber Jorge on guitar and Mike Shapiro on drums, and arrangements by Brazilian guitarist Edgar de Almeida, Philadelphians Dan Kleiman and Joe Mass, Minas Terra , offers a rich blend of tropical rhythms infused by lyrics that deftly traverse emotional terrains of exuberance and desire.

In November 2009, Anne Simoni won the 14th US Songwriting Competition first prize in World category , and 3rd prize overall with her song “Papagaio”.

In March 2010, performs at a USA Songwriting Competition winners showcase off SXSW in Austin, and other local performances. Anne Simoni’s album has been getting radio airplay at KUT FM 90.5 in Austin and KRTU JAZZ FM 91.7 in San Antonio,TX among many other radio stations in the USA, EUROPE and BRAZIL.

In July 2010, Anne Simoni is nominated for the Los Angeles Music Awards – AAA Artist of the Year and performed at the legendary Whiskey A GoGo, in West Hollywood.

She recently moved to Austin, TX to start working on her new album and form a new band to perform locally and internationally.

In October 2010, Anne Simoni is voted the recipient of the AAA Artist of the Year Award at the 20th Los Angeles Independent Music Awards and will be attending the Red Carpet event at the Paramount Theater in Hollywood on November 18th 2010.