Multi-instrumentalist Lea Freire emerged on the Brazilian jazz circuit in the late 1990s. She issued her debut album, Ninhal, in 1998. That same year, she collaborated with Teco Cardoso on his live recording of Quinteto. In 2001, Freire founded Maritaca, her own record label and released albums by Silvia Goes and Tibo Delor.

Freire has worked with the likes of Nelson Ayres, Arismar do Espirito Santo, Elton Medeiros, and Lillian Carmona. Aside from making music, she has taught composition and instrumentation at Zimbo Trio Music School. Currently, she teaches at the prestigious Souza Lima Conservatory school in Sao Paulo, Brazil. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi