From childhood dreams of conducting an orchestra to performing alongside Grammy-recognized musicians, the vocalist, flautist and songwriter reflects on her classical roots, the evolution of Nossa Samba and the original music shaping her next chapter.
Long before Sharla discovered Brazilian bossa nova or found her voice as a jazz vocalist, she was a little girl standing in front of the television, pretending to conduct an orchestra. Growing up in Los Angeles, Sharla was captivated by the orchestral arrangements accompanying cartoons such as Looney Tunes and Sesame Street. While other children followed the characters on screen, she found herself listening to the music, fascinated by the way instruments could create suspense, heighten emotion or deliver a perfectly timed comedic moment.
Whenever the Los Angeles Philharmonic appeared on television, she watched intently, studying the musicians and the conductor’s movements. She would then stand on the fireplace hearth and recreate the performance herself, waving her arms as though an entire orchestra were waiting for her direction.
“I had such an obsession with the music; I felt like I was a part of it and it was a part of me,” Sharla recalls.
By the age of 6 or 7, she knew music would play an important role in her future. What she could not have predicted was that her musical journey would eventually take her from classical flute and orchestral composition to the soulful rhythms of Brazilian jazz, leading to a career as a vocalist, instrumentalist and songwriter.
Today, Sharla is best known as a lead vocalist and flautist with Nossa Samba, a jazz ensemble whose repertoire blends Brazilian bossa nova, samba, Latin jazz and American jazz traditions. Since joining the group in 2019, she has developed her performance style, shared stages with internationally recognized musicians and contributed to the band’s 2025 debut album, Nossa Samba Americana.
Now, with new original compositions and a solo recording in development, Sharla is preparing to explore another dimension of her musical identity.
From Classical Discipline to Jazz Freedom
Sharla’s formal musical education began at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, where she studied classical flute after successfully auditioning in her junior year. The experience placed her among exceptionally talented young musicians and helped establish the technical foundation that would influence her career.
She later attended California State University, Los Angeles, where she expanded her musical interests by joining the choir and studying classical voice. It was also during this period that she began singing jazz standards with a college jazz ensemble and encountered Brazilian bossa nova.
The discovery changed her ambitions. Sharla had previously imagined becoming a classical flautist or film score composer, inspired in part by her admiration for John Williams. But Brazilian music introduced her to a sound and culture that captured her imagination in an entirely different way.
“My new dream was to move to Brazil and play this music on every street corner I could find for the locals,” she says, laughing at the romanticism of her younger ambitions.
Although she no longer envisions a career built around street-corner performances, her desire to perform in Brazil remains. She continued her education at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where studies in composition, orchestration and choral conducting helped reconnect her with another early passion: writing music. Her classical background provided discipline, technical understanding and a strong grasp of musical structure, but transitioning into jazz required a different approach.
“Classical music can be very rigid stylistically, while jazz has a liberal, improvisational approach built inside of a solid structure,” Sharla explains.
She compares classical music to following a predetermined route, while jazz allows musicians to create their own paths within an established musical framework.
“With classical music you have to follow the road map; with jazz, you make the road map, but you have a specific set of streets to work with.”
Initially, the freedom of improvisation challenged her. Years of classical training had taught her to interpret music with precision, but jazz demanded that she become comfortable making unexpected choices. Over time, she developed a style that combines classical structure with unconventional rhythmic phrasing and melodic interpretation.
“You play what you feel,” she says.
The Brazilian Connection
Brazilian music has remained central to Sharla’s artistic identity, particularly the rhythmic foundations of samba and bossa nova. She is drawn to the relationship between African-derived percussion traditions, expressive melodies and the emotional depth found in Brazilian songwriting. During her time at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, an African percussion class became one of her favorite experiences. She remembers sitting in drum circles, playing djembes and becoming absorbed in the layered rhythms. Years later, she still recognizes elements of those rhythmic patterns in the Brazilian music she performs.
“Sometimes I can’t help but dance to it on stage,” she says. “Even if I am having a bad day or the audience is a dead crowd, or doesn’t understand, the music makes me feel so happy.”
That enthusiasm is reflected in Nossa Samba’s repertoire, which draws heavily from the influential Brazilian compositions of bossa nova creators Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Joao Gilberto, and Luiz Bonfa. To a lesser degree the group also incorporates American jazz standards, blues and contemporary jazz influences, creating a musical identity that respects Brazilian traditions while allowing room for experimentation. Sharla cites artists including Eliane Elias, Daniella Soledade and Astrud Gilberto among the musicians whose interpretations resonate with her. Yet she is equally drawn to the possibilities of jazz fusion, particularly the work of progressive jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny.
“I have spent and still spend many hours just listening to his music,” she says. “I can play his albums 12 times in a row and not get tired of hearing them.”
Metheny’s approach to combining jazz harmony, Brazilian-influenced rhythms and distinctive melodic textures has remained a lasting source of inspiration for Sharla, who hopes one day to see him perform live.
Nossa Samba
Joining Nossa Samba in 2019 became one of the most significant developments in Sharla’s professional journey. Founded by guitarist and arranger Stan Lee, the ensemble provided an opportunity to work alongside experienced musicians, including former college professors whose professional careers extended well beyond the classroom. For Sharla, the experience transformed her understanding of what it means to be a working musician.
“The personal growth I have experienced as a person and a musician has been priceless; I could not have asked for more,” she says.
The ensemble also helped her confront an aspect of performing that she had long found challenging: allowing an audience to witness her most personal musical expression. Although Sharla has studied acting and musical theater, including a year at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, she views acting and musical performance as fundamentally different experiences. In acting, she can inhabit another character. In music, she feels that she must reveal something of herself.
“With acting I get to be someone else, and I am not nervous at all when I’m acting,” she explains. “With performing music, I can’t be anybody else except my true self.”
That distinction has made live musical performance both rewarding and, at times, emotionally demanding. She has learned that connecting with an audience requires a degree of vulnerability, something she has increasingly embraced through her work with Nossa Samba.
“When I am willing or courageous enough to be completely mentally invested in the music, its energy, and beauty, it’s like I am in a trance,” she says.
Her development has also been influenced by opportunities to open for celebrated musicians, including Latin Grammy winners Paquito D’Rivera and Néstor Torres, as well as Grammy-nominated trumpeter Rachel Therrien. Watching these performers connect so naturally with audiences encouraged Sharla to reconsider her own approach to the stage. One experience in particular remains especially meaningful.
In 2024, Nossa Samba was selected to participate in the Women in Jazz Festival, where the group opened for Therrien. Sharla credits Patrice Bivins, founder/director of Valley Arts & Entertainment in Huntsville for the opportunity. During the event, Therrien invited Sharla to join her onstage to play flute. For Sharla, the invitation represented an extraordinary moment of professional recognition.
“Meeting her, talking to her a bit, and being asked to join her on stage to blow my horn during her act was probably the highlight of my music career thus far,” she says.
The performance took place at The Speak Easy, an intimate venue that reflected Sharla’s preference for smaller jazz settings where musicians and audiences can connect more closely. The experience left a lasting impression, not simply because of Therrien’s musical ability, but because of her generosity toward fellow performers. Sharla hopes their paths may cross again through a future collaboration.
Bringing Nossa Samba Americana to Life
In 2025, Nossa Samba released its debut album, Nossa Samba Americana, bringing together Brazilian classics, jazz interpretations and the ensemble’s distinctive arrangements. For Sharla, the album represented a long-awaited milestone. The group had previously recorded several songs, but she had hoped for years that the material would eventually become a complete album available to listeners beyond their live performances. Working with Al Gomes of Big Noise helped renew the effort.
The ensemble returned to the studio to record additional material, combining those sessions with earlier recordings to create its debut collection. Lee’s arrangements became central to the album’s musical identity, introducing elements of American jazz, rock, funk and fusion into familiar Brazilian compositions. One of Sharla’s favorite tracks is “Água de Beber,” which features an arrangement that blends the song’s samba foundations with a more adventurous, rock-influenced approach.
Her flute solo reflects that creative direction. Rather than approaching the instrument strictly through traditional jazz phrasing, Sharla deliberately experimented with techniques intended to evoke the sound of an electric guitar. She incorporated slow trills, lucid melodic phrasing and sustained intervals to create the impression of guitar riffs within the arrangement. The result reflects the balance between discipline and improvisation that has shaped her development as a musician. Another selection, “210 West,” provides an opportunity to showcase the band’s instrumental abilities, with Sharla performing the lead melody on flute rather than singing. She wanted the album to highlight the musicianship of the entire ensemble, rather than focus exclusively on her vocals. The recording process also strengthened her confidence in her own abilities.
“From this experience I learned that I had a lot more potential than I thought I did,” she says.
Perhaps just as importantly, the project reinforced the personal connections she has built within the group.
“I learned that my band members are the closest thing I have to a second family, and that they believe in me.”
Although the album marked an important achievement, Sharla sees it as part of an ongoing musical journey rather than a final destination.
Beyond the Band: A New Chapter in Original Music
Sharla’s next creative chapter is already taking shape. She is currently developing a solo recording titled “I’ll Be Loving You,” an original composition she wrote earlier this year. The song is being produced with Joel Monet at Sound Cell Studio, with instrumental recording underway ahead of mixing and mastering. Sharla plans to include the track on her debut solo album, which will draw upon jazz and soul influences while allowing her to explore her own songwriting more fully. The project represents a natural progression from her years of classical study, jazz performance and composition training.
“I have jazz and soul-influenced originals that I plan to release as a solo artist,” she says.
She is also continuing to collaborate with Lee on new material for Nossa Samba, with the pair working toward their third original composition together. Looking ahead, the ensemble is planning a benefit concert in spring 2027 to support the Huntsville High School Choir’s trip to Europe. The performance is expected to take place at Valley Conservatory, where the group also plans to produce a live recording using the venue’s new studio facilities. Beyond her work with Nossa Samba, Sharla is developing a music video for a previously released 2017 single recorded with her late friend George West Sr., a project she hopes will introduce the song to a wider audience.
While Sharla continues to pursue opportunities in music, acting and modeling, she is candid about the challenges of building an independent artistic career. She acknowledges that recognition and professional progress do not always arrive at the same pace as the work itself. For now, she remains committed to performing, composing, recording and finding new ways to connect with listeners.
The Art of Being Heard
Despite her extensive musical training, Sharla does not measure a successful performance solely through technical perfection. She wants listeners to recognize the sincerity behind the music, even when they do not understand the language of a song. Her voice, often described as soft, sultry and slightly raspy, lends itself to an understated style of interpretation. Rather than relying on elaborate vocal embellishments, she prefers to let phrasing, melody and emotion carry the performance.
“I hope they can hear the sincerity in my performance, even if they cannot understand the words,” she says. “More than anything, I want them to feel the emotion, particularly any shred of joy that they can glean from the performance.”
It is a perspective shaped by years of study, professional experience and the gradual realization that music does not always need to be perfect to be meaningful. From the young girl conducting imaginary orchestras in Los Angeles to the musician now preparing to release her own compositions, Sharla’s career has been a continual exploration of sound, identity and artistic freedom. And while her musical influences stretch across continents and generations, her motivation remains remarkably close to where it began. She still wants to understand how music moves people. Only now, she is creating more of it herself.
Follow Sharla Bell and discover her music: linktr.ee/SharlaBell
