line up

• Ana Vieira (Voice)
• Bruno Silva (Viola)
• Carlos Tony Gomes (Cello)
• Celina Piedade (Acordeon, Metalofon, Voice)
• Cinema Ensemble ()
• Luis Aires (Bass)
• Luis San Payo (Drums)
• Rodrigo Leao (Keyboards)
• Viviena Tupikova (Violin)

• country:
  Portugal
• style(s):
  Contemporary World
• label:
  Various - Sony, Proper, Pias, Ponderosa, Resistencia, etc
• type:
  Band, Composer/Songwriter
• instrumentation:
  instrumental, vocal
• artist submitted by:
  Uguru - Musica PT

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SHORT BIO

Rodrigo Leao is one of the stars of contemporary Portuguese music, co-founder of MADREDEUS and Setima Legiao, two of the greatest Portuguese bands along de 80's and the 90's.

Cinema Ensemble is a group of musicians that plays Rodrigo's compositions along with his Piano: Accordion, Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass Guitar and Drums.

The songs are beautifully sung by Ana Vieira and his albums borrow the voice of artists like:
Beth Gibbons (Portishead), Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy), Stuart Staples (Tindersticks).

Other artists like Ryuichi Sakamoto and Melingo have collaborated with the composer and maybe because of the rich and dense music, sometimes cinematographic, the filmmaker Pedro Almodovar reveals himself to be a great fan of Rodrigo.

Rodrigo's music draws on a wide range of influences, cinematic in scope, being beautiful, romantic and powerfully moving with references to traditional Portuguese music, tango and chanson but draws also on contemporary classical music and the very best popular music.

It is music with universal appeal.

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LATEST NEWS

Rodrigo has been playing around the Europe in the most prestigious venues:

Barbican Centre (London)
Cafe de La Danse (Paris)
Triennale Milano (Italy)
Goa (India)
Gazarte (Greece)
Macedonia Opera (Macedonia)
Teatro de La Zarzuela (Madrid)
Palau de La Musica Catalana (Barcelona)
Sani Festival (Greece)
Chiasso (Switzerland)
Bruges, 11/08/10 (Belgium)
Ulsan World Music Festival (South Korea)

The next concerts are:

Octobertour (Germany)
Bilbau, 12/11/10 (Spain)

* And of course Rodrigo has been on an intense agenda across Portugal along 2009/10, besides being asked to play in many private events

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MORE INFO

Rodrigo Leao is one of the greatest Portuguese Composers.

One of MADREDEUS' founders. Author of emblematic songs,like "O Pastor";"Alfama" or "Tardes de Bolonha",to name a few.

Rodrigo Leao has a singular and extremely rich career connected to some of the most important moments of the Portuguese music scene post 1980. Rodrigo sees it almost as a book or a film with different chapters, but always connected. He explains that his ways never really changed and that some things remain the same: "even at the beginning of Setima Legiao I was doing things that I still repeat today", he explains to reinforce the idea of the continuity that his music bears.

The group Setima Legiao was a breeze of fresh air on the Portuguese music scene when it appeared in 1982 with Rodrigo and his friends Pedro Oliveira and Nuno Cruz. Through the label that released Setima Legiao, Rodrigo met Pedro Ayres Magalhaes, himself a successful pop musician with Herois do Mar, and both decided to start a new adventure that would have a deep international repercussion: Madredeus.

From being a bass player with Setima Legiao Rodrigo went on to play keyboards with Madredeus and with that option he established a new connection with his future career.
Rodrigo would record 5 albums with Madredeus, being a key element in the building of an international career for that group.
But in 1993, while he was still in Madredeus, Rodrigo started his own solo career revealing an unusual artistic unconformity with "Ave Mundi Luminar", a first clue to his very personal view of the world that gathered participations from Madredeus' Teresa Salgueiro, Francisco Ribeiro and Gabriel Gomes.

With the solo debut, Rodrigo started to explore new sounds getting closer to some contemporary classical music, to minimalism and started a journey that has led him to many different sensibilities: "In my music you will find Michael Nyman, tango or French music", he says.

His discography comprises "Ave Mundi Luminar" (1993), "Mysterium" (1995), "Theatrum" (1996) "Alma Mater" (2000), the live "Pasion" (2002) and "Cinema" (2004).

"O Mundo (1993-2006): O Melhor de Rodrigo Leao" was released internationally at the end of 2006 to a unanimous applause.

Pedro Almodovar joined the praise and described Rodrigo as "one of the most inspired composers in the world". Colaborations with artists like Beth Gibbons or Ryuichi Sakamoto, both featured on the album "Cinema", are also proof of the range of Rodrigo's music and it's universal appeal that made him a composer in demand for TV scores in Portugal.

Now there's a new chapter in the never ending story of Rodrigo Leao's career. It's called "A Mae" and it's an ambitious work with the contribution of such artists as:
Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon, Tindersticks' Stuart A. Staples and Melingo - the great ambassador of Argentina's new tango.

"The new songs", Rodrigo explains, "were written on the move, with different windows opened to the world and that allowed me to explore different emotions, different looks".

"Although there are some more joyful songs, this is a record that i made turned to myself, to the inside".

The new record features songs that were written in such places as The United States, Italy or India: "I recorded street sounds, children playing, birds singing. And sometimes even with my mobile phone", he says.

The Cinema Ensemble still counts with Celina da Piedade, Ana Vieira, Viviena Tupikova, Bruno Silva, Carlos Gomes, Luis Aires and Luis San Payo - an unbeatable team both on the studio and on stage.

Nowadays Rodrigo Leao is still writing is own history with the music he plays, that sounds almost magical. He is truly a unique composer.

Links

• Official site for Rodrigo Leao
• Myspace for Rodrigo Leão