Biography
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Born
1916
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Born In
Santo Amaro, Bahia, Brazil
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Died
8 January 2009 (aged 93)
Edith Oliveira Nogueira (Santo Amaro da Purificação, 1916 — Salvador, January 8, 2009) was a Brazilian percussionist and singer. She became known as Dona Edith do Prato (Lady Edith of the Plate) because she performed using a knife and a plate as instruments, a traditional form of percussion from the Recôncavo Baiano region in Brazil.
She sang and played samba-de-roda in her hometown, usually interpreting themes of public domain from the Recôncavo Baiano. In 1970, she went on stage for the first time, in a show alongside the singer and composer Roberto Mendes, in Salvador. She participated in the recording of the album Araçá Azul (1973), by Caetano Veloso, singing "Viola Meu Bem" and also participating in "Sugar Cane Fields Forever". Ten years later, she recorded the samba chula "Filosofia Pura" in the record Ciclo (1983), by Maria Bethânia, featuring Gal Costa.
In 2002, Caetano and Bethânia recorded again with Dona Edith, in the CD Vozes da Purificação, released by Biscoito Fino, with the participation of a choir formed by eight singers from Santo Amaro. Besides the two siblings, other musicians from Bahia, such as Gilberto Gil, Roque Ferreira, and Mariene de Castro have pointed the singer as an influence in their music.
She died of multiple organ failure in 2009, a few days after suffering a stroke.
"She was starting to get the first sounds out of half of a gourd of cheese when she played at making food in the backyard at home. As a teenager, she played the plate, and so she discovered a different sound and perfected it. For her, the plate had to be made of china and the cheapest, and the knife of stainless steel, without a wooden handle. She had no artistic reference, but a gift, which she gradually developed. She never imagined herself an artist".
- Ninho Nascimento, musical producer, Dona Edith's grandson.
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