Wilson Simoninha

With his characteristic swing and vocals, Wilson Simoninha seeks to recreate the atmosphere of Brazilian recordings of the 1960s, succeeding in providing a sensational album which manages to captivate all lovers of music with a charming slice of Brazilian funk.

Wilson Simoninha was born in Rio de Janeiro and moved to Sao Paulo as a child. Studying music throughout his early years, Simoninha tried his hand at a law course at university before calling it a day and dedicating his life to music.

Simoninha's legendary father, Wilson Simonal, one of the main players in the '60s and '70s Brazilian funk and soul movement, gave his son a chance to play keyboards on the road which led to collaborations and production work most notably playing for a number of years with Jorge Ben's seminal funk out-fit. In the 1990s, he continued his work with Jorge Ben recording several albums while also recording with his father and Sadao Watanabe, with whom he toured Japan alongside Leila Pinheiro and Cesar Camargo Mariano.

Wilson Simoninha music is a mixture of styles using samba as a base, blending samba-soul, samba-jazz, samba-rock and samba-lanco. —Courtesy Calabash Music