By Sean Chaffin, Editor/Senior Writer

Last Updated: July 30, 2010, 2010; 7:10 pm CT

Madison Square Garden, here she comes.

Ivete Snagalo, one of Brazil’s best-selling Brazilian female singers is bringing her powerful and sultry voice to the U.S. for three shows kick-started in Miami and capped off in New York City. The New York show will also be recorded for the DVD Multishow Live – Ivete Sangalo at Madison Square Garden.

Sangalo is a phenomenon in her native country as a singer and songwriter of Brazilian Popular Music, and a Latin Grammy award winner. She also occasionally lends her talents as an actress and television show host in Brazil. Her albums have sold millions of copies, and she has toured throughout the country.

Born in Bahia in 1972, Sangalo began singing at an early age at school and bars, her success eventually leading to a recording contract in 1993 with Sony to become the lead singer of the Axé group Banda Eva. Axé is a type of music from Bahia derived from blending several Afro-Brazilian styles of music including Reggae and Calypso. Her career thrived with Banda Eva, and the band’s live album, Banda Eva Ao Vivo, sold more than a million copies. In 1997, Sangalo made the decision to go solo and released a self-titled album in 1999, which went platinum. The album Beat Beleza followed and also garnered platinum status. In 2002, she released Se Eu Não te Amasse Tanto Assim (If I Didn’t Love You So Much), with the album-titled track reaching No. 1 on the singles charts. The album also contained a duet with American R&B artist Brian McKnight. Sangalo’s career would continue to climb in the coming years.

In 2004, MTV Live: Ivete Sangalo was released and continued the sales success for the artist. The album was a hit, with live versions of her mostr popular songs and some Banda Eva hits as well. The album was the second best-selling album of the year in Brazil. A hit DVD was next as well as the album, As Supernovas, a triple-platinum hit. More albums and hits have followed as well as sold-out shows at some of the biggest stadiums in South America. During her two decades in music, she has also recorded with some of the biggest names in Brazilian sounds including Gilberto Gil, Robert Carlos, Jorge Ben Jor, and many more. Her success has made her one of the best-paid acts in Brazil.

In New York, Sangalo will take the stage with guests Nelly Furtado, James Morrison, Seu Jorge, and more. The Brazilian diva will also be making a stop in Massachusetts as part of her three-show American concert series. Here is a list of concert dates and information.

• Aug. 28 – Miami, Fla., American Airlines Arena.

• Sept. 1 – Worcester, Mass., DCU Center.

• Sept. 4 – New York City, Madison Square Garden.

For those who can’t make one of thes shows, Sangalo will be broadcasting her rehearsals for the shows live on the Internet on Monday, Aug. 2. Click here for more information on watching the event.

Fresh off shows in Brazil, Seu Jorge will hit the North American concert trail with a 13-city tour beginning this summer, and Mosaic Brazil offers you his tour schedule to see if he makes a stop near you.

Jorge has gained quite a following in the last decade, both as a singer/songwriter and as an actor. He grew up in a favela in the city of Belord Roxo in Rio de Janeiro state. Jorge began his career in the group Farofa Carioca, writing most of the band’s songs on the group’s 1998 debut album.

In 2001, he struck out on his own releasing his first album, Samba Esporte Fino, with his own version of Brazilian pop samba. The album was released internationally in 2003 and re-titled Carolina. A second album, Cru (Raw), was released in 2005, followed by a duo album Ana & Jorge with Brazilian singer Ana Carolina.

Jorge has also seen success on the silver screen as an actor and soundtrack songwriter. He appeared in both The City of God and The Life Aquatic with Zissou, providing the soundtrack for the latter by singing classic David Bowie songs in Portuguese. His audience in the U.S. and Canada continues to grow thanks to performances at the Bonnaroo music festival and other festivals north of the border. This year, Jorge also made an appearance on PBS’s Austin City Limits.

The following are his planned tour stops. Click on each city for ticket information.

• July 23 – Miami Beach, Fla. (The Fillmore Miami Beach at The Jackie Gleason Theater)

• July 24 – Orlando, Fla. (Club Firestone)

• July 28 –  Philadelphia (The Trocadero)

• July 29 – Boston (Royale Nightclub (formerly The Roxy)

• Jul 30 – New York City (Terminal 5)

• Aug. 1 – Montreal, Quebec (Osheaga Festival)

• Aug. 2 – Toronto, Ontario (Phoenix Concert Theater)

• Aug. 3 – Chicago (Congress Theater)

• Aug. 7 – Seattle (King Cat Theater)

• Aug. 8 – Portland, Oregon (The Crystal Ballroom)

• Aug. 10 – San Francisco, Calif. – (The Regency Ballroom)

• Aug. 14 – Los Angeles, Calif. – (Club Nokia)

Let us know what you think of his show.

To purchase Seu Jorge CDs, visit Connect Brazil.

Brazil’s answer to Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra graces the stage at Radio City Music this weekend.

Roberto Carlos, who has sold 120 million albums in a 50-year career, has been called “Brazil’s King of Pop” and “Brazil’s Answer to Elvis Presley” and will perform Friday and Saturday at the famed New York City venue.

According to the New York Times, Carlos has sold more albums than any Latin American performer. He told the Times some insight into his musical longevity:

• “I listen to and like all kinds of music, from bossa nova to country, and every once in a while I’ll take a risk,” the singer, who will turn 69 on Monday, said in a telephone interview from his home in Rio de Janeiro. “But rock ’n’ roll, that backbeat and that instrumentation, is always in my style, even if it’s smoothed out a bit.”

Carlos, born in 1941, began a successful career recording American rock’n’ roll standards, but in the mid-1960s began writing and recording his own songs with longtime collaborator Manuel Moraes. He became te key figure in a 1960s musical movement in Brazil known as the Young Guard. This became the first major Brazilian movement of Brazilian rock pop. He has been more aptly referred to as the “Brazilian Frank Sinatra.” It sounds like it will be a great couple of shows.

Recently interviewed by the Hollywood Reporter, legendary producer Quincy Jones talked about how his 1956 visit to Brazil, where he met João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Astrud Gilberto. Six years later, he released a Bossa Nova album that included the track “Soul Bossa Nova” – better known to many as the theme from the “Austin Powers” movies.

“That’s heavy,” Jones said of the revival of his tune, which has also been covered by the rapper Ludacris. “You don’t know what’s going to happen, but you just let it happen. It’s out of your hands. You just let the music live on.”

As a producer, Quincy also lent his magic touch to one of our favorite Milton Nascimento CDs: 1988’s ‘Yauarete’. He also brought two Ivan Lins tunes (‘Love Dance’ and ‘Dinorah Dinorah’) to George Benson’s Grammy-winning ‘Give Me The Night’ album and tapped yet another Lins song for a ‘Best Instrumental’ Grammy win with ‘Velas’.

TV Globo kept everyone waiting into the wee hours for their heavily promoted special on singer and songwriter Djavan, but it’s always worth the wait for a chance to hear the man who is arguably Brazil’s best when it comes to memorable tunes for the American ear.

The one-hour concert had a creative setting, with no less than three bands sharing sections of the circular stage at the center of a large studio audience. Djavan served up several of his best-loved songs, including ‘Acai’ (a personal favorite), while guest performers including Zizi Possi’s kid, Luiza and Katia B. covered several more. It was the first time I had seen Possi the younger in performance, and while she bears a remarkable resemblance to her famous mom in her appearance, she has a little way to go with her development as a top line singer. It wouldn’t be the first this has been written of a Brazilian star on the rise – the potential is there, but the jury is still out.

Djavan

Katia B. was surprisingly good and worthy of a second look – she carries a velvety voice and an interpretive style that added to the songs without drawing attention away from them and that’s one sign of a talented performer.

It’s always a pleasure to listen to Djavan sing and it’s even better when you can see him on stage. Simply put, his voice swings easy, like a jazz singer but with a uniquely Brazilian flair and his repertoire is truly amazing. Few songwriters have been able to impress me time after time with lasting melodies as has Djavan.

The credit roll showed that this concert was recorded last year, and its good to know that Djavan’s voice can still cut it, when so many of his contemporaries seem to be winding down with their careers. In fact, its been awhile since his last recording and as he doesn’t tour the US often, we can only hope that there’s more music to come from this special voice. What a treat!

The Portuguese singer Mariza recently told a Philadelphia newspaper how she and Ivan Lins wound up dueting on the Charlie Chaplin classic “Smile” on the Fado singer’s latest album.

The two of them were in the studio “just joking around.” Lins was playing the song on the keyboards, while Mariza began to sing along, despite not knowing the song’s words.

According to Mariza, when the song ended, everyone in the room was looking a little strange. Some even had tears in their eyes. It was then that the decision was made to add it to the album.

There’s great news in the offing this spring for fans of Caetano Veloso. One of MPB’s most iconic figures will be releasing his latest album, “Zii e Zie” (roughly translated to “Uncles and Aunts”) at a date in April that has not yet been announced.

“I chose the name because of the beautiful and strange impression that those simple words, ‘zii’ and ‘zie,’ cause when they’re written together,” Veloso told the Rio de Janeiro daily O Globo’s online edition.

The idea for the album came from an Italian translation of “Istanbul,” a book by Turkish Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, which Veloso read in Turkey after it was given to him by a female Italian fan.

Veloso said that the work on the album is similar to that on his most recent 2007 album  “Ce,” which had a rock style and had the backing of his friend, former Talking Heads singer and MPB backer David Byrne.

Veloso’s fellow Tropicalism pioneer Gilberto Gil is managing to keep himself fairly busy on the international stage these days, despite no longer being Brazil’s Minister of Culture.

‘Area Code for Milan, Por Favor’

From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil’s Minister of Culture in the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In November 2007, Gil announced his intention to resign from his post due to problems with his vocal cords. Lula rejected Gil’s first two attempts to resign, but accepted another request in July 2008. Lula said on this occasion that Gil was “going back to being a great artist, going back to giving priority to what is most important” to him. Then to the shock of many Brazilians, Gil announced that he would become a Italian citizen, through his fourth wife. The act remains controversial in Brazil, in keeping with Gil’s personal and public decisions in the recent past, regarding politics, drugs, religion and by suggesting radical change in Brazil’s music industry, from which he has benefited greatly.

Gil is scheduled to participate in a star-studded event March 25 at the United Nations General Assembly Hall to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. As part of the evening, musician and philanthropist Peter Buffett, and R&B/pop star Akon will debut their slavery-inspired song, “Blood Into Gold.” 

Others scheduled to appear include actor Danny Glover, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Salif Keita and the Marley Brothers. Nelson Mandela and Muhammud Ali will also deliver pre-taped speeches.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Gil was slated to be in Washington D.C. along with Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa; former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and Paul Rusesabagina, the inspiration for the movie “Hotel Rwanda.” The event was the inauguration of the Americas Business Council, a nonprofit forum to promote business and human rights, at the Inter-American Development Bank.