Ed's influences vary from jazz to Hollywood film soundtracks to rock

At the end of the 80´s Ed Motta burst upon the music scene as a major singer and one of Brazil's top composers and producers.

He was an instant success on the music circuit and his 1988 debut album was brimming with hits. The songs were marked by lavish musicality and introduced strong soul and funk components into the pop-rock scene that was the rage in Brazil at the time.

It was soon clear that at age 16, Ed Motta had arrived and was making plans to soar much higher. However, sixteen years ago, not even the most optimistic of optimists could have foreseen he would get this far. Today he is a singer and composer, plays several instruments, makes arrangements and produces music in many different countries. In his own style, while remaining loyal to funk-soul, he mixes influences that vary from jazz to popular Brazilian music, from Hollywood film soundtracks to rock, from classical music to American standards, from bossa nova to reggae.

The result of this melting pot of references has already been recognized all over the world and acknowledged in recent tours across Europe, Japan, the United States and South America. Inside studios or on stage, Ed has also played with names such as Roy Ayers, Chucho Valdés, Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick (leader of Incógnito), Ryuichi Sakamoto, Paul Griffin, Bernard Purdie, Bo Diddley, Ed Lincoln, Miltinho, Mondo Grosso, Marcos Valle, João Donato, Dom Salvador, among many others.

He has a natural passion for music which has turned into an obsession particularly British blues-rock: Thin Lizzy, Humble Pie, Led Zeppelin, Free, Rory Gallagher... An obsession that led him to accept an invitation a neighbor made to become lead singer of a hard rock band called Kabbalah.

During that time, the beginning of the 80´s, another detail of his personality had already become clear: the encyclopedic voracity with which he read up on themes that interested him. When he had covered the whole blues and rock catalog and its byproducts, Ed heard Blow by blow, and realized that what English guitar player Jeff Beck did was soak up from the same soul and funk source he himself had listened to throughout his childhood.

It was the mid-80's and that´s when it all started: the birth of the Ed Motta that was to become famous through his recordings and his band, Conexão Japeri. Ed went solo and has toured all around the world including places like The Carnegie Hall in New York City which boasted performances by guests singer Chaka Khan and bass player Will Lee.

He has recently worked with 4Hero, Seu Jorge and as he´s been doing since Entre e ouça in 1992, Ed thought up the concept of the cover and sleeve of Poptical, an album that in England was also produced in vinyl, like Dwitza.

Since releasing Poptical, Ed Motta has been performing in Brazil and many countries around the world in a show that is also the groundwork of his first DVD. Like the music that makes him move, Ed is always open to innovations and surprise.