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Ricardo Schiesari Barreto Cruz (born January 12, 1982) is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and journalist known for his performances of anime theme songs in Brazil[3] as well being a semi-regular member of the Anison band JAM Project. He regularly tours with the band whenever they visit Latin America, and is also featured on several of the group's singles beginning with the B-side of 2005's "Meikyū no Prisoner".
Early life
In the mid-1990s to early 2000s, Cruz worked as a musician in Brazil, his native homeland. He also worked as a journal writer, typically translating from Japanese to Portuguese and English. He speaks Portuguese and Japanese fluently, and saw Hironobu Kageyama perform several times while studying and living in Japan. In 2003, he met Kageyama at Anime Friends, the Brazilian anime convention Cruz co-founded. At the event the following year, Cruz stepped in for Masami Okui during rehearsals, since she had a cold. Kageyama expressed interest in Ricardo's voice, and encouraged him to audition to join the band. He submitted a demo track which won him a position in JAM Project as a secondary member.[4][5]
Career
Ricardo participated in-studio with JAM Project for the first time in 2005, starting with "Neppu Cybuster Shippu!". In 2006, he performed as part of the group with the original leader Ichirou Mizuki on another single, "Stormbringer". Shortly after in 2007, he shared the stage for the first time in the group's fourth live concert, JAM Project JAPAN CIRCUIT 2007 Break-Out.
He wrote the lyrics for the song "Sempre Sonhando ~Yume Oibito~" on JAM Project's 6th best album in 2006, Get over the Border. In 2009 he collaborated with Kouji Wada to produce a song in Japanese and Portuguese. On September 17, 2010, Ricardo joined up with JAM Project once more for their Reunion concert, where the original members sang with the current members.[citation needed]
Ricardo returned to work with JAM Project in Japan in late 2011 and early 2012 for their Go! Go! GOING!! world tour. He wrote the track "Cross World" on Hironobu Kageyama's 2012 album Rock Japan. In June 2014 started a YouTube channel called MugenLab where he talks about his trips to Japan and his career. On July 20, he debuted his EP called On the Rocks in 2014 at the annual anime convention Anime Friends. Also in 2014, he and other Brazilian singers created the project called " Cavaleiros in Concert" which is a concert with songs of the anime Saint Seiya performed by Ricardo, Rodrigo Rossi, Larissa Tassi and Edu Falaschi. They took this concert to several cities in Brazil.
In 2019, he composed and sang in JAM Project's opening theme for the second season of One-Punch Man. The song is titled "Seijaku no Apostle" (静寂のアポストル, lit. "The Silent Apostle") in Japanese, or "Uncrowned Greatest Hero" internationally. Cruz also appeared in the music video.[6]
