Lica Cecato

Origin

São Paulo, SP

Years Active

1974–Present

Genres

brazilian pop, brazilian jazz, bossa nova, samba, MPB

Instruments

voice, guitar, shamisen

Biography

Lica Cecato is a Brazilian interdisciplinary artist whose work spans music, poetry, and visual arts. Born in São Paulo, she has been based in Europe since 1978, developing a practice that explores sound, image, and language as expressions of a shared creative source. Cecato is a singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, proficient in voice, guitar, and shamisen. She has released 14 albums and composed over 70 songs throughout her career.

Her artistic journey began with studies in graphic design, and she also worked as a crooner in Japanese jazz clubs and a cruise entertainer. Inspired by her grandfather, a conductor, and her father, a saxophonist, Cecato moved to Rome in 1978 to pursue her music career. In the 1980s, she received the Sarah Vaughan Award and a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston. She has performed internationally across Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Australia.

Cecato's style defies easy categorization, blending traditional jazz, multimedia performances, Brazilian music, and poetry. Her visual art, which includes drawing, painting, photography, and mixed media, is characterized by its ephemeral nature, akin to music. She has exhibited her work internationally and collaborated with various artists, including Romero Lubambo and Charlie Mariano, further cementing her diverse artistic contributions.

Discography

• Lica Cecato And Stefano Scutari – Our Favorite Songs (1992)
• Constelário (2001)
• Lica Cecato, Romero Lubambo – Live In Europe (2003)
• Pimenta Rosa (2005)
• Lica Cecato And Paulo Cesar Gomes – Live At Brazilian Embassy In Tokyo (2008)
• Gingabytes (2009)
• Copacabana (2010)
• Quero Querer (2018)
• DUE COMETE (2021)
• Omaggio (2023)
• Jazz Mpb (2023)