Nara Leão: The forgotten protagonism of the muse of Bossa Nova

The artist who completely revolutionized Brazilian popular music, but whose importance is rarely recognized.

Once, in 1957, a lawyer from the southern part of Rio de Janeiro allowed his 15-year-old daughter — who was quite dedicated into studying the guitar — to invite some musician friends to their home. Little did he imagine that his consent would transform the family’s appartment into the cradle of one of the most important genres of Brazilian music: Bossa Nova.

The dissonant harmonies of the musical style that combines jazz with samba and classical music, together with the softly and poetically interpreted melodies, create a rhythm that seems entirely tailor-made for Nara Leão — the hostess of the musical gatherings.

Her childhood and youth were moulded by social, economic and familiar stability. The artist was raised in a very liberal way. Her father, a man born in 1909, taught his two daughters the importance of work as a way to avoid dependency on a husband. From a very young age she had access to art and culture, including the incentive to learn musical instruments. During school, she became friends with Roberto Menescal and Carlos Lyra, both responsible for the connection between the majority of the artists precursors of bossa nova.

Despite the undeniable talent present in Nara’s refined singing and her mastery over the guitar, it is difficult to state with clarity her protagonism in the gatherings promoted at her home. In an interview for the Museu da Imagem e do Som — MIS (Museum of Image and Sound), she expressed that she did not receive much recognition or respect from her colleagues: “The guys didn’t give me much importance, they thought that I sang badly, that I was out of tune… ‘Shut up! — Everyone teased me, I felt a bit lost,” she says.

Although she is called the muse of Bossa Nova, Nara never felt part of the genre. This feeling intensified when she discovered the infidelity of her then boyfriend, Ronaldo Bôscoli, motivating her decision to disassociate herself from the movement. Later, due to Carlos Lyra’s invitation, Leão began to attend performances of Samba de Morro that took place at the Zicartola bar. The contact with the art made in poor neighbourhoods changed completely her way of relating to the world; Music became a tool of expression and awareness of ideas.

Tom Cardoso, the journalist who wrote her biography ”Ninguém pode com Nara Leão” (”No one can handle Nara Leão”, in free translation), explains that, although she wanted to dissociate herself from the Bossa Nova, it was undeniable that the style was intrinsic to her: “She wanted to distance herself because she thought the lyrics were too silly, but musically she never left Bossa Nova, not even when she recorded the Cartola samba album with political and social lyrics, it is evident how she still is essentially and harmonically very Bossa Nova. She was a Bossa Nova artist, but without being encapsulated in a Bossa Nova theme.”

Her constant willingness to discover the new and to appraise the unseen became the signature of her career and established her as one of the greatest interpreters of Brazilian popular music. The keen ear she developed over the many years dedicated to music gave her an unparalleled ability to uncover artists. ”She had the habit to search deeply and extensively about music. She ends up discovering Caetano, Gil, Betânia and Gal when she goes to do musical digging in Bahia […] She was always looking for new things, really researching, doing investigative and even journalistic work to find things that were very Brazilian, very instigating for her,” says Cardoso.

Nara broke taboos, fought against prejudice, created trends and told Brazil’s history through her performances. She promoted artists, performed in plays, expressed her opinion, participated in festivals and sang everything from Bossa Nova to Tropicália. She gave visibility to overlooked composers, opened space for new styles of music to be heard, innovated by forming something new by mixing various styles and at the same time highlighted the forgotten qualities of old styles. Nara opened his home, his heart and dedicated his life to Brazilian culture, but she still does not get the recognition she deserves.