‘Oba Oba’ Star Brings Songs From the Heart of Brazil : Music: Eliana Estevao is performing at a Studio City supper club. She says the intimacy is a welcome change from her starring role in the musical revue.

Somehow, Brazilian singer Eliana Estevao looked elegant amid the clutter of the cramped back-room office of La Ve Lee, a Studio City supper club where she is appearing through the end of February. After a while, you get the idea that this lady would look elegant on a tramp steamer.

“I start to sing when I was 3 year old,” she said slowly, in the rich textures of a Portuguese accent. “My mother hear my voice when I am going to sleep. When I am going to sleep, I sing! My mother said, ‘Ah, good voice! I can find a teacher for her.’ At 3, I start studying with an Italian vocal teacher, and I have never stopped singing.”

And that last statement has to be a happy thing, indeed, for those who saw the lithe, statuesque Estevao as she toured the world as the lead in the highly successful Brazilian musical revue, “Oba Oba” (it means, roughly, “ya- hoooo !”). Now, every Wednesday through Saturday at La Ve Lee, her rich mezzo-soprano voice whispers and soars its way through two sets (at 9 and 11 p.m.) of popular Brazilian music--from sambas and bossa novas to more mainstream jazz--backed by a three-piece combo of fellow Brazilians.

It’s a big change going from a world-touring company to a Valley supper club. The engagement, she says, presents a welcome bit of peace and stability after six years of “agitated life” traveling through Europe and the United States with “Oba Oba”--and it might never have happened at all without the help of a rather well-known vocalist by the name of Jarreau. Al Jarreau.

“I was looking for something new for our stage,” said La Ve Lee owner Eddie Arbi. “And I love Brazilian music. I saw Eliana in ‘Oba Oba’ when it was in Los Angeles, and I later heard she was singing in a place in Hollywood. I didn’t know how to approach her, so I called my old friend, Al Jarreau--he has been eating at La Ve Lee for many years--and asked him if he would come with me and give me his opinion. Well, he did.”

The result: Jarreau pronounced Estevao “excellent--a real Brazilian singer who sings from the heart,” and the three talked until 5 a.m.

“Yes, we talked for many hours,” Estevao said in Portuguese, switching back to her native tongue and speaking through translator Cida Goncalves, a publicist for La Ve Lee. “I learned so much from Al Jarreau about singing that night, because he is such a humble artist. That conversation was like a 10 years’ learning experience for me--about singing, performing, everything!”

Estevao wore a striking caftan-like, full-length garment spectacularly striped in green and gold. “Tonight is my African night!” she said laughing, adding, “Actually, I bought this in Spain during ‘Oba Oba.’ Maybe it has Moorish influence.” Enormous white circular earrings danced from her ears as she spoke--in a voice that is equally mellifluent offstage.

“I feel the audience,” she said. “Even though the people might not understand the language of my songs, I feel I can get the idea or the feeling of the song across to about 80% of the audience. The American public asks a lot, because the best performers come here, and the people come to expect a lot.”

Add to that the fact that La Ve Lee (pronounced “love-ah-ly,” it means “for her and for him” in Hebrew) seats no more than 85, and--after the huge audiences of “Oba Oba”--Estevao faces the challenge of reacquainting herself with more intimate performing. Any stage fright?

“Especially in a place like La Ve Lee, where I’m very close to the audience, it is much more difficult,” she said through the translator. “But also, I can feel the reaction more. Even though some people can’t follow the rhythm or get the words, it’s nice to be close to the people and to watch their faces. Because ‘Oba Oba’ was such a big crowd and so distant, I could not get the feeling of the audience, and now I can. It might never have happened except for La Ve Lee!”

Or, more accurately, except for Arbi who, after a failed effort at hosting what he called “wave” music (so-called New Age fare), is staking La Ve Lee’s musical reputation on the growing popularity of Brazilian jazz. Estevao was preceded at the supper club by famed Brazilian bassist Octavio Baily and, Arbi said, “I have an agent in Brazil working on getting a big star here after Eliana. But I hope she can stay for at least six months.”

Estevao’s concert, Arbi boasts, is the most comprehensive sampling of Brazilian music currently available in Southern California. Backed by Walter “Valtinho” Arid on keyboards, Eduardo Marques Del Signore on bass, and Aziz Bucater on drums (an “Oba Oba” veteran whose busy timekeeping is a special favorite of Estevao’s), Estevao covers such Brazilian classics as “The Girl from Ipanema” as well as contemporary Brazilian pop and selections from “Oba Oba.” From the first haunting a cappella notes of the romantic “Canta Brasil,” through the percolating rhythms and sophisticated phrasing of “Cobra Criada,” the lady is as convincing a representative of her musical culture as Flora Purim or Astrud Gilberto.

“I started by studying the folk music of Brazil when I was a child,” said Estevao, who pronounces herself “a well-lived” 37. “The first song I remember singing was a lullaby song. An American song . . . um . . .” She suddenly snapped her fingers. “Oh. ‘Over the Rainbow’ in Portuguese. In 1955! I still have the music charts. I sang ‘Over the Rainbow’ again recently in New York; I always try to have a potpourri of songs appropriate for whatever city I am in.”

Her favorite song?

“’ Deia O Mundo E O Sol Entrar ,” she said, “by Marcos and Paulo Sergio Valle. It is a very old song done originally by Elis Regina. It means ‘Let the world and the sun come into your life.’ It’s very positive! When you let the sun come into your life, everything else becomes very bright and shiny.”

Although she trained formally until about age 18, the Sao Paulo, Brazil, native still thinks of herself as a student. “When I sing,” she said, “I am still studying. I am never satisfied with what I am doing. I always feel I can do better. I have never been completely satisfied with anything I have done.”

Her first professional break came in a 1972 Portuguese production of “Jesus Christ, Superstar” (“I was only in the chorus, but it was a great experience to be in an American production.”) and later she began singing with famed Brazilian guitarist Toquinho. While touring Europe with the guitarist in 1982, she was “discovered” and invited to join “Oba Oba,” which she did two years later.

A single woman (“I have had no time for marriage!” she says laughing), Estevao said she is taking stock of life during her stay here. Would she consider settling in Los Angeles?

“I love Los Angeles very much,” she said. “But I also love Las Vegas! I worked for a year in ‘Oba Oba’ there. I’d like to buy a house there and live there for the rest of my life. It has this magic. I don’t know what it is. When I go to Sao Paulo, I miss Las Vegas. When I go to Las Vegas, I miss Sao Paulo. The streets? The lights! It’s not the casinos. Maybe it’s because I bought my first car in Las Vegas. The mountains remind me of Switzerland. And I have many friends there.”

Curiously, Estevao--who is staying with friends in the Valley--is better known outside of her native country. This is no coincidence, perhaps, because Brazilian music is becoming increasingly popular abroad--what with various artists, notably David Byrne, recording Brazil-influenced pop albums.

“I am just now becoming better known in Brazil from my work in many other countries,” said Estevao. “It seems that all Brazil knows how popular Brazilian music is becoming and is very happy about it.”

With that, she rose to join her band, which was already playing the introductory music to her 11 p.m. set. Moments later, the tall lady in the flowing caftan eased gracefully onto the stage, picked up a microphone, and with azure neon letters spelling out “Brazilian Jazz” behind her, intoned those first silky a cappella notes that open each set:

“ Bra-silllll . . .”

La Ve Lee is located at 12514 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Eliana Estevao performs at 9 and 11 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For information, call 980-8158.