Latin Grammy Awards (2006) nominee, also known in Europe as The Voice, Edson Cordeiro was born on 9 February 1967 in Santo André - SP - Brazil. He started singing at the age of 6 in a local church, where he regularly sang until the age of 16.
In 1983 he took part in Miguel Briamonte's rock-opera "Amapola". Briamonte would eventually become the producer/arranger to some of Edson's early albums. In 1988 Edson acted and sang in the third Brazilian run of the rock-opera "Hair!" (Gerome Ragni, James Rado and Galt McDermot), directed by Antônio Abujamra. In the following year, he acted in the Brazilian version of Molière's "The Imaginary Invalid" (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, 1622-1673), diected by Cacá Rosset. With this play, Edson toured Europe, USA, Mexico and Central-America.
His first major solo concert in august 1990, at the Mistura Up in Rio de Janeiro was a total success and he started being courted by several major record labels.
Edson's eclectic repertoire already included music that spanned from Brazilian masters, like Noel Rosa and Pixinguinha to Janis Joplin, Prince, the Rolling Stones and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, amongst others.
At a time when jornalists had already labeled him a cult singer, his early concerts attracted relatively small audiences due to his "unconventional" repertoire, which included a mix of opera, MPB, rock, latin and other styles, and he sang in not fewer than five different languages.
Edson's career took off in 1990, when he was signed by Sony Music, followed by the albums Edson Cordeiro (1992), Edson Cordeiro (1994) and Terceiro sinal (1996). These records showcased Edson's command behind his 4-octave + vocal range, along polished productions by Eduardo Souto Neto, Fabio Fonseca and Miguel Briamonte.
The CD Clubbing (1997) had a dance version of Ave Maria, which was publicly criticized by the Catholic Church. Needless to say, the song was not only a hit, but the subject of several re-mixes, including one made internationally famous by Thievery Corporation The live CD Disco Clubbing Ao Vivo (1998) was well received by press and public alike, not least due to the visual aspects of the show, which featured Edson performing 70's and 80's dance hits, acompanied by partially-dressed backing-singers and dancers.
Disco Clubbing 2 Mestre de Cerimônia (1999), closed Edson's 70's dance-music cicle. His following album, Dê-se Ao Luxo (2001) feautures contribuitions by Brazilian legends Rita Lee, Ney Matogrosso and DJ Patife. "I allowed myself the luxury of inviting them" says Edson.
Edson's Contratenor (2005) CD (Produced by José Ananias Souza Lopes) is dedicated entirely to the baroque style, in which he sings pieces by Händel, Bach, Mozart and other great composers. The CD was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award, in the Best Classical Album category.
This great success was followed in 2005 by many concerts at internationally renowned clubs, theatre venues and festivals. Edson Cordeiro performed, for example, six days in a row at “Tipi – das Zelt am Kanzleramt” in Berlin and at the sold out Södra Teatern in Stockholm, where he was overwhelmingly celebrated by critics. In the same year, he had his UK debut concert at the Marquee Club – one of the hippiest Clubs in London!
Since the mid-90's Edson fascinates audiences in theatres, clubs and big international open-air stages, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival, Music Club Vienna or the Radeberger Classic Open Air, in front of 20.000 people with his outstanding voice, which has been called "the world's 8th wonder" by the German press. Berlin’s N°1 cabaret « Bar jeder Vernunft » was completely sold out during his 2-week period in the summer of 2004.
In 2006/2007 many other successful shows followed European-wide, such as his performance at the Brighton Festival, which was completely sold out five days in a row.
Besides these great live performances Edson is a regular guest in numerous German TV-shows, such as Harald Schmidt (Late-Night), Willemsens Woche, NDR Talk Show and Sandra Maischberger's the “Mozart Show” (ARD), where he performed with, German cross-over trio, Klazz Brothers, with whom he recorded the album Klazz Meets The Voice (2007) under the SONY/BMG label.
.
