Joyce - Biography
By Nick Castro
Brazilian singer Joyce was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1948 to a Brazilian mother and Danish father. Her parents divorced before she was born and she was raised in Rio, along with two brothers, by her single mother, Zemir Silveira Palhano de Jesus, a civil servant.
Joyce began to teach herself to play guitar by the age of 14. She learned by watching and imitating her brother Newton, 13 years her senior, who mingled with the likes of bossa nova musicians like Roberto Menescal and Eumir Deodato. The frequent visits to her house by these and other well know musicians in the new bossa nova scene gave Joyce a thorough education on the musical style.
In 1964, Joyce made her first appearance on an album by the vocal group Sambacana. Producer Roberto Menescal would begin to bring Joyce into the studio regularly to record jingles he produced. Around this time, she began to write her own compositions. By eighteen, already a skilled player, Joyce began to study music and theory seriously, while also attending PUC for Journalism, her other passion at the time.
In 1967 Joyce's song "Me Disseram" would create real controversy for being boldly written in the first person with lyrics like, "I've been told/ that my man doesn't love me". This was unheard of for women songwriters in Brazil at the time. Many considered it vulgar while progressives gave her kudos for taking a feminist stance. Joyce would continue in her life to have a strong voice for expression and the role of a strong women in society.
The next year, she released her first LP Joyce (Phillips, 1968). Produced by Armando Pittigliani, the album contained five of her own songs and six by burgeoning Brazilian musicians Paulinho da Viola, Marcos Valle, Francis Hime, Caetano Veloso, Jards Macalé, and Toninho Horta & Ronaldo Bastos. Her next album, Encontro Marcado (1969 - Philips), in 1969 was produced by Nelson Motta as his first production. These would be her introductions to the tropicalia movement. This would also be reflected in her choice of songs, including many written by contemporary musicians were also working in the tropicalia scene. Although the latter album was much more commercial overall than the first it still remains a worthy artifact from the era.
Joyce graduated from PUC in 1970 and began playing with the group Sagrada Família. She soon wed the groups composer Nelson Angelo and had two children with him; Clara in '71 and Ana in '72. Joyce, who was said to be very devoted to her young children released only one recording in the first years of their lives, Nelson Angelo e Joyce (1972 - Odeon), by her and her husband. This particular album is a rarity now and loved and sought after by record collectors today. The sound here is smooth and tastefully composed with the production not unlike the softer moments Marcos Valle was recording at the time. Her relationship with Nelson however, fell apart in 1975, and Joyce became active again in the music world.
In 1976 she appeared on an album, Passarinho Urbano (Fonit-Cetra, 1976) produced in Italy, of tracks by songwriters who's music had been censored by the Brazilian dictatorship. These people included Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimento, Caetano Veloso, Edu Lobo, Maurício Tapajós, Vinicius de Moraes, and others. The album was quietly released in Brazil the next year.
In 1977 Joyce would record an album in New York with Maurício Maestro and produced and arranged by Claus Ogerman, featuring jazz musicians Michael Brecker, Buster Williams, and Joe Farrell. Though this album was never released, it did produce the song "Feminina" which would later be well known. In New York, she met Bahian drummer Tutty Moreno who she married and had a daughter, Mariana, with.
At this time, other musicians such as Milton Nascimento, Elis Regina, Maria Bethânia, Boca Livre, Nana Caymmi, Quarteto em Cy, Joanna, Fafá de Belém, Ney Matogrosso released some of their interpretations of Joyce's songs, to much success. This got the attention of EMI who offered her a contract and soon released the hit album, Feminina, which contained her first commercial hit song "Clareana," a lullaby she wrote in '76 for her daughters. It was a lovely and gentle song, with lyrics like, “No sol de manha/Novelo de la/No ventre de mae/Bate o coracao de Clara, Ana (The morning sun/A ball of yarn/In the mother’s womb/It beats like the heart of Clara, Ana).” A mix of samba, jazz and folk, the album made it's stand musically and politically. In the opening song, she asks, "Oh mother/Explain to me/Teach me/Tell me/What is a woman?" She asked the questions many Brazilian women were asking themselves. Five years later Brazil's military government would be voted out of power and women could write and sing as they pleased without fear of sexist persecution.
Joyce made seven albums in the eighties including Água e Luz (1981 - Odeon), Saudade do Futuro (1985 - Pointer) with guest, Milton Nascimento, Wilson Batista: o Samba Foi Sua Glória (1986 - Funarte), recorded with samba musician Roberto Silva, and Negro Demais no Coração (1988 - CBS), made in honor of Vinicius de Moraes with guest appearances by Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia, and Moraes Moreira.
In the early 90's, Joyce signed with Verve and recorded again in New York. She played in the acid jazz circuits where her work was spotted by Enlish DJs who used her songs "Feminina," "Baracumbara," and most famously, "Aldeia de Ogum," which all became big hits in the electronic music and dance scene worldwide.
In 1995 an album, Revendo Amigos (EMI 1995), was made by fellow musicians Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Ney Matogrosso, Emílio Santiago, and others' interpretations of her most popular songs. Many of the songs that Joyce recordedin the 60's and early 70's have been featured on various compilations which survey the tropicalia or MPB Brazilian music scenes.
