I must confess that until my good friend and colleague introduced me to the music of Leo Middea I had no idea who he was. Eva had discovered that he was playing a gig in York and having heard some of Leo’s songs on Spotify I jumped along with my wife Catherine (a.k.a. Catwoman) at joining Eva and Mollie (another colleague) at the Basement in York last month. Leo has a huge following across the world and exceeds 150,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. He has released four well thought of and wonderfully sounding albums and was the first Brazilian artist to reach the finals of the renowned “Festival da Canção” in Portugal. He also received an invite from Portugal’s Prime Minister to perform at the celebration of the Bicentenary of Brazil’s Independence. Middea is Brazilian, born in Rio De Janeiro, and currently lives in Europe, spending his time in Lisbon and Barcelona. In 2024 he finished third in the contest to select Portugal’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest with his song “Doce Mistério”. Still relatively young, at 30 years old you have to wonder how much bigger he can become in the music world.
The set in York, which was part of a reasonably extensive 12 date UK tour, was both intimate and inclusive. Armed with just his acoustic guitar and ethereal and mesmerising voice he captivated the audience from the first note. He is abundantly talented and overflows with charisma and energy. The audience, many of whom were Brazilian or Portuguese, mostly sang along to every song. Me being one of the small band of people that are monolingual did my best but obviously didn’t know the words, although joining in with the non-linguistic vocal hooks was easy. The music has a gorgeous Latin feel and could be used to samba to. It is folk based but 21st century style rather than old school and leans nicely to a joyful funky jazz sound. Leo’s guitar playing is rooted in a kind of classical Spanish style and he shows expertise and prowess with his instrument. All of his songs are in Portuguese, apart from one which is his only attempt to write in English to date. But regardless of language I believe his songs show that music is truly universal. Leo’s songs are simply great pieces of music and he is one of the finest performers I have seen recently. If you get a chance to see him live then do it! You will not be disappointed. If you are anywhere near Montreux next month Leo Middea is playing a set at the world famous jazz festival on 6th July.
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