Flora Purim

• Genre: Bossa Nova
• Hometown: Rio de Janeiro
• Flora Purim Website

About

Flora is the queen of Brazilian jazz vocalists. Her six-octave voice combined with quirky scats, screams, and unusual phrasings made her a true original. She has worked with jazz legends such as Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie, but she is more likely to be remembered as a key figure in the formation of Fusion Jazz along with her husband, percussion legend Airto Moreira. They were part of the original Return to Forever with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke in the early '70s and hence became known to the jazz world in the U.S. Through her collaborative work she reached diverse audiences, and she has the unique distinction of singing on two 1992 Grammy winners: Gillespie's U.N. Orchestra for jazz and Mickey Hart for world music. She has also worked with Santana, James Taylor and Hermeto Pascoal. Later in the '90s she and Airto launched a Latin Jazz group called Fourth World. Incorporating Brazilian, jazz, and other worldly influences into her vocal styling, she remains unique.

- Robert Leaver