People

Alda Rezende

Alda Rezende is a singer, songwriter and radio host who blends Brazilian and Latin American music with jazz, samba, pop and classical sounds.

Heritage

Brazil & Aotearoa New Zealand

Alda Rezende LinkedIn

Alda Rezende is a singer, songwriter and radio host. Originally from Minas Gerais, Alda is a household name in Brazil. She made Wellington her home 18 years ago and is a veteran of the local music scene.

Alda’s music draws on her love of Latin American culture. Her music focuses on blending different styles, including Brazilian and other Latin American music, folkloric and roots music, and jazz, classical, contemporary and electronic music. She regularly works with musicians around the world and has taken part in various projects that celebrate cultural collaboration, such as People in Your Neighbourhood, Live Brazil (the first Brazilian arts and cultural festival in New Zealand), Zirigidum and Latin Club.

After arriving in New Zealand in 2004, Alda started to run a weekly gig in Wellington called Latin Club, which promoted fusions of Latin genres with jazz, classical and world music. At Latin Club, she performed with accordionist Emilio Bertrand (Argentina), guitarist Noel Clayton (New Zealand), bassist Patrick Bleakley (New Zealand) and drummer John Rae (Scotland). Each week, they invited a local guest or visiting musicians and dancers to showcase Latin culture. Since 2006, Alda has also been a DJ on Global Pulse, which is Radio Active’s world music show, broadcast from Wellington.

Alda has released three albums – Samba Solto, Madrugada and Traveller – and performed on many others. Over the past 30 years, she has performed at festivals in Australia, Brazil and New Zealand, including Forum das Americas, Adelaide Cabaret festival, Wellington International Jazz Festival, Auckland Festival, Taranaki Jazz Festival, Taupō Arts Festival, Queenstown Arts Festival and Christchurch Arts Festival.

In 2006, Alda was one of six talented New Zealand musicians selected to take part in the Bacardi B-Live OE: Brazil project. Through this project, LOOP Recordings took the musicians to São Paulo for three weeks’ “OE”, or “overseas experience”, where they recorded OE: BRAZIL with over 60 Brazilian musicians. The OE: BRAZIL album contains 11 original tracks, which are a fusion of Brazilian and New Zealand music and culture.

Alda was also one of three Brazilian musicians who recorded Tutakitaki with Māori singer and songwriter Matiu Te Huki. Tutakitaki contains nine original tracks that blend popular indigenous Brazilian music with traditional and contemporary Māori music. After releasing the album in 2015, the group toured New Zealand, playing at venues in Wellington, Masterton and Auckland.

Alda’s work is revered in her native Brazil. In 2002, she was selected from 3500 singers to be a semi-finalist in the fifth edition of Prêmio Visa, which is a prestigious music competition in São Paulo Brazil.

Alda is currently working with Dr Lauro Meller (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte) and Dr Peter Low (University of Canterbury), who are producing a book about Brazilian musician Noel Rosa, called Rosa’s Singable Translations. Alda is performing some of the songs featured in the book, which readers can access through QR codes to a website and music platforms.

Published 02 November 2023