Luciana Souza

Luciana Souza was born in São Paulo, Brazil, and has performed and recorded with Herbie Hancock, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Bobby McFerrin, and many other jazz greats. She has been a prominent soloist in important new works by composers Osvaldo Golijov, Derek Bermel, Patrick Zimmerli, and Caroline Shaw, performing with the New York Philharmonic, the Atlanta Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and many other orchestras around the world. She has been releasing celebrated recordings since 2002, including six Grammy-nominated records. She began her recording career at age 3 with a radio commercial. She spent four years on the faculty at Berklee College of Music, where she received a bachelor's degree in jazz composition. She earned a master's degree in jazz studies from the New England Conservatory of Music, and taught for four years at the Manhattan School of Music. She has been a lecturer of global jazz studies at UCLA since the spring of 2020. She has twice been named Best Female Jazz Singer by the Jazz Journalists Association, in 2005 and 2013. She is married to legendary bass player and record producer Larry Klein and lives in Los Angeles, near Santa Monica Airport, with their son and cat.