Lisa Ono

Lisa Ono is a Brazilian-born bossa nova singer who moved to Japan, where she has become a jazz superstar with more than 40 charting albums to her credit. ∙ NaNã, her 1991 release, won Japan’s prestigious Gold Disc Grand Prix Award for Best Jazz Album, as did the following year’s Menina. ∙ In 1992, she started her own label, Nanã, to introduce other Brazilian and bossa nova artists into the Japanese marketplace. ∙ Ono released The music of Antonio Carlos Jobim “IPANEMA” on what would have been the legend’s 80th birthday, with Jobim’s son and grandson coproducing and guesting on the album. ∙ She teamed up with Brazilian composer and guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves in 1999 for her most successful album, the Japanese Platinum-certified Dream. ∙ For her 25th solo release, 2010’s Asia, she recorded a collection of that continent’s folk songs, performing each in its own native language.