Cátia de França

Catarina Maria de França Carneiro was born in João Pessoa in 1947 and learned to read through songs taught by her mother, Adélia de França, described as the first Black schoolteacher in Paraíba. She began playing piano as a child; in Pernambuco, where she trained as a teacher, she learned guitar, accordion, flute and percussion. In 1970, she won a festival in Paraíba with Mariana, written with the poet Diógenes Brayner. Early in the decade, she moved to Rio and played in the bands of Sivuca, Amelinha, Zé Ramalho and Elba Ramalho. Her LP debut came in 1979 with 20 Palavras ao Redor do Sol, released by Epic/CBS, featuring settings of poems by João Cabral de Melo Neto and the tracks Coito das Araras and Kukukaya.