Zona Sul - Beira (2006)

“Germany‘s number one bossa nova singer.” ~ Welt am Sonntag

BEIRA “sounds even more relaxed than its predecessor and holds the charm of lastingly unnerving melancholia. Sophie relates to jazz in a remarkably flexible manner, lending many of her songs not only a lyrical, but also a lasciviously intellectual note.” ~ Süddeutsche Zeitung

“The sun, finally! With these great songs – who needs to travel to Rio de Janeiro?” ~ Petra

BEIRA is an “enchanting journey to Rio‘s sugarloaf mountain, where even Françoise Hardy and the Beatles meet. The band‘s whole trip into Brazilian music is wonderful and really worth listening to. With her sweetly sensuous and relaxed voice Sophie Wegener knowingly seduces in English, French and particularly in Portuguese.” ~ Jazzthing

Sophie Wegener (vocals): Born to a French mother and a German father, she grew up in a bilingual household and had music lessons at an early age. She received a liberal arts education attending university in the US, France, England and Germany. Later, Sophie studied jazz privately at numerous late-night jam sessions in New York City and with Sheila Jordan, Luciana Souza, Judy Niemack and jazz legend Barry Harris. Sophie started out as a jazz singer but fell in love with the bossa nova and Brazil and founded ZONA SUL in 1999. She sings in English, French and Portuguese. The press called her “Germany‘s number one bossa nova singer.“ (Die Welt)

Pedro Tagliani (guitar & vocals): Guitarist, arranger and composer. Born in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Attended the conservatory in Porto Alegre, where he later taught guitar. Guitarist and composer of the band “Raiz de Pedra“, with whom he recorded four albums, among which “Diário de Bordo“ (Enja). He has worked with Egberto Gismonti, Dave Samuels, Wolfgang Lackerschmidt and Thomas Kugi, with whom he recorded “Arvoredo“.

Personnel: Tizian Jost (piano): One of Germany‘s best jazz pianists. He worked with, among others: Mark Murphy, Tony Lakatos, Brazilian singer Leny Andrade, Dusko Goykovich. He studied Brazilian music intensely and founded the band DOMUNDO with Brazilian singer and pianist Lygia Campos. With his Trio he recently recorded “United in the big Blue“ (Enja) with Mario Gonzi (drums) and Thomas Stabenow (bass).

Matthias Engelhardt (bass): Impresses listeners with his enthusiastic and very “Brazilian“ bass-playing. In 1996, he won first prize at “Jugend jazzt“, a jazz competition for young musicians. Then he was granted a scholarship for the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he intensely studied jazz and world-music. He is a free lance musician in Munich since 2000. Worked with Bobby Shew, Wolfgang Haffner, Peter Herbolzheimer, George Garzone, Zoe and many others.

Hajo v. Hadeln (drums): An experienced, creative and sensitive accompanist, he intensely studied Brazilian rhythms and did “further training“ with Rosa Passos‘ drummer Celso Almeida and with Portinho and Duduka da Fonseca, From 1998 to 2010, Hajo’s Trio LaHaze could be seen live on German sports television‘s weekly talk show “Doppelpass“. Hajo also worked with Brazilian singer Ithamara Korax, recorded with Paula Morelenbaum and world class percussionist Marco Lobo. He is an endorser for Tama drums and Meinl Cymbals. “With his technical brilliance, v. Hadeln needs not fear the comparison with world-class jazz drummers like Art Blakey.“ (Sueddeutsche Zeitung)