Nina Miranda
Encyclopedia
Nina Miranda is both a singer and songwriter who was part of the English group, Smoke City
, and more recently, Shrift
.
Nina Miranda's father is Brazil
ian, her mother is English
and she was born in Brazil, and educated in Brazil
, England
and France
. She wanted to be an opera singer when she was younger, and then studied art.
Nina is daughter to Brazilian visual artist Luiz Aquila.
In 1992 Nina recorded a song called “Underwater Love”, with DJ and musician Marc Brown. The song was moody and cinematic, trip hop fused with Bossa Nova
. Nina sang it using English with a French accent and Brazilian Portuguese. The track was featured in a successful Levi's ad campaign, became an underground hit and caught the attention of several major record labels.
Marc and Nina joined forces with musician and producer Chris Franck and the three became Smoke City
. Smoke City released an album on Jive records
called Flying Away to great critical acclaim. The band had created a unique blend of jazz
, samba
, trip hop
, reggae
, dub
, folk
and bossa. The album spawned top ten hit singles including a number one.
They extensively played the major venues and festivals all over UK and Europe, and in 2001 released a second album in the UK called Heroes Of Nature. Smoke City's songs, and other writing collaborations Nina has been involved with, are continuously used on films, TV and advertising worldwide.
According to a podcast in their new band ZEEP's MySpace website, they state that because of record label pressure on Smoke City, they decided to end the band.
Nina Miranda has worked with a variety of artists, and has guested on tracks for Da Lata
, Nitin Sawhney
, Cirque du Soleil
, Bebel Gilberto
, Daniel Jobim, Antonio Chainho
, Shrift
, Spiller
, Faze Action
, Jah Wobble
, Les Gammas, Troubleman, Arkestra 1, Hajime Yoshizawa and Robert Miles
.
Nina and Franck became a couple and have a son. The two of them released an album in July 2007 under the name Zeep. In 2009, they released their second album "Peoples & Things".
Smoke City
Smoke City were an English band, who blended acid jazz and trip hop, borrowing from Brazilian styles such as samba and bossa nova. They are best known for their single "Underwater Love", which was a major hit in 1997, after being used in a Levi's television advertisement, "Mermaids" .In 1997, the...
, and more recently, Shrift
Shrift (band)
Shrift was a collaboration between former Smoke City vocalist Nina Miranda and multi-texturalist/producer Dennis Wheatley. Their debut release, Lost In A Moment, brought together acoustic and electronic soundscapes with Miranda's vocals, drawing comparisons with Portishead...
.
Nina Miranda's father is Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian, her mother is English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and she was born in Brazil, and educated in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. She wanted to be an opera singer when she was younger, and then studied art.
Nina is daughter to Brazilian visual artist Luiz Aquila.
In 1992 Nina recorded a song called “Underwater Love”, with DJ and musician Marc Brown. The song was moody and cinematic, trip hop fused with Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova may refer to:*Bossa nova, a style of music*Bossa Nova , a dance form associated with the music*Bossa Nova , a 2000 film*Bossa Nova - album by John Pizzarelli...
. Nina sang it using English with a French accent and Brazilian Portuguese. The track was featured in a successful Levi's ad campaign, became an underground hit and caught the attention of several major record labels.
Marc and Nina joined forces with musician and producer Chris Franck and the three became Smoke City
Smoke City
Smoke City were an English band, who blended acid jazz and trip hop, borrowing from Brazilian styles such as samba and bossa nova. They are best known for their single "Underwater Love", which was a major hit in 1997, after being used in a Levi's television advertisement, "Mermaids" .In 1997, the...
. Smoke City released an album on Jive records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
called Flying Away to great critical acclaim. The band had created a unique blend of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
, trip hop
Trip hop
Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and bossa. The album spawned top ten hit singles including a number one.
They extensively played the major venues and festivals all over UK and Europe, and in 2001 released a second album in the UK called Heroes Of Nature. Smoke City's songs, and other writing collaborations Nina has been involved with, are continuously used on films, TV and advertising worldwide.
According to a podcast in their new band ZEEP's MySpace website, they state that because of record label pressure on Smoke City, they decided to end the band.
Nina Miranda has worked with a variety of artists, and has guested on tracks for Da Lata
Da Lata
Da Lata are a Brazilian-influenced British group formed in the early 1990s.The main member of the group is Chris Franck, a multi-instrumentalist and main creative input...
, Nitin Sawhney
Nitin Sawhney
Nitin Sawhney is an Indian-British musician, producer and composer. His critically acclaimed work combines Asian and other worldwide influences with elements of jazz and electronica and often explores themes such as multiculturalism, politics and spirituality...
, Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
, Bebel Gilberto
Bebel Gilberto
Bebel Gilberto is a Brazilian popular singer often associated with bossa nova. She is the daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miúcha. Her uncle is singer/composer Chico Buarque...
, Daniel Jobim, Antonio Chainho
António Chainho
António Chainho is a Portuguese fado guitarist. He has worked with many of the great names in fado music, like Hermínia Silva, Carlos do Carmo and José Afonso, and world music, like Paco de Lucía....
, Shrift
Shrift (band)
Shrift was a collaboration between former Smoke City vocalist Nina Miranda and multi-texturalist/producer Dennis Wheatley. Their debut release, Lost In A Moment, brought together acoustic and electronic soundscapes with Miranda's vocals, drawing comparisons with Portishead...
, Spiller
Spiller
Cristiano Spiller is an Italian DJ.He had a #1 hit in the UK, Italy, Australia and other countries with the hit single, "Groovejet ", featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor, released in 2000...
, Faze Action
Faze Action
Faze Action are a British band composed of brothers Simon and Robin Lee.Over the years Faze Action blended house music with Western classical, pan-African, and Latin music. Its music is also heavily influenced by funk, disco, and jazz....
, Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble is an English bass guitarist, singer, poet and composer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but left the band after two albums...
, Les Gammas, Troubleman, Arkestra 1, Hajime Yoshizawa and Robert Miles
Robert Miles
Robert Miles is an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ in electronica and alternative music.-Biography:...
.
Nina and Franck became a couple and have a son. The two of them released an album in July 2007 under the name Zeep. In 2009, they released their second album "Peoples & Things".