Capeverdean artists: musicians, painters, sculptors
Keita, one of the new-batuku generation musicians, performing on one of his surprise shows at the Hotel Holanda in the suburb Achada Santo António in Praia, Santiago. Photo taken summer 2008.
These articles are biographies and
interviews of artists form Cape Verde, living there and in the diaspora somewhere.
The material borrowed from A Semana, CVmusic.com, www.worldmusiccentral.org/,
I want you to read, and then go out and either buy the music, or go to Cape Verde for the !ive experience. Enjoy!
Collected by Olav Aalberg, e-mail: badiu@start.no
NB: This document is more print-friendly and does not read well on-line.
Adibel Pereira The face of Cape Verdean sculpture
Bana: If I live another 200 years
Bitú: Naturalness on the tip of his brush
Dany Silva, a singer of the world
Djosinha - A question of feeling
Djudju Tavares wins Senna Barcelos Award
Dudu Araújo and the music of Cape Verde
Dudu Araújo and the music of Cape Verde
Egidio His vocation: playing the violin
Funaná: Cape Verde’s calling card
Gardenia The Voice of Cape-verdean soul
Jorge Humberto returns with new CD
Luciano Chantre, the artist of popular festivals
Lutchinha Leite: A woman of arms
Maria de Barros: “Cape Verde is in my blood, heart and soul”
Morgadinho - “A question of inspiration”
Orlando Pantera: Cape Verdeans remember Pantera
Ramiro Mendes: “Culture could finance the State”
Tibau: “The Maio lament is inside of me”
Toi (Cabecinha) Pinto to record first CD
Tutu: “Painting is a never-ending path”
Vasco Martins: Music at his fingertips
Adibel Pereira The face of Cape Verdean sculpture
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=1503 08/01/2005
He traded the luxurious green of São Tomé and Príncipe for the lunar landscape of Cape Verde, the land of his parents, but Adibel Pereira affirms that once the initial culture shock wore off, he found his second home. All of this comes thanks to his art - wood sculpture. Solitary in his work, Adibel is steadily constructing a school of sculpture with a Cape Verdean face. In this interview with A Semana Online, the artist speaks of his adaptation to Cape Verde, tells of how he discovered his passion for sculpture, and describes the path he is forging for himself in what is practically a virgin market in the country.
- How did you end up in Cape Verde? What was the path that led you to these islands?
I was born in São Tomé to Cape Verdean parents. I lived there until I received an invitation form my older brother, José Pereira. He went to visit us in São Tomé, saw the area in which I worked and invited me to come show my sculpture in Cape Verde. So I came and represented the island of Sal in the National Young Artists Biennial, which took place in the city of Praia. I was lucky and placed first in the area of sculpture. Exhibits in Sal and also in São Vicente followed. But it’s not just work that keeps me here, it’s also my relationship with Cape Verdeans, normal citizens as well as artists. I’m happy to be here, because it’s a country similar to São Tomé in which there aren’t any conflicts and people lead their lives with calm, concerned mostly about their work.
- When your brother proposed that you come to Cape Verde, what did you think? Was it easy to make the decision to come here?
I’d always wanted to come to Cape Verde. But my idea was to come here to hold exhibits, visit my brother, and then return to São Tomé. It wasn’t hard for me to make the decision to come live in Cape Verde because I feel prepared to live in any country. I remember, for example, when I went to pick up my passport, the consul, upon learning I was departing for Cape Verde, warned me about the differences between the two countries, that the island of Sal was very different from São Tomé, because he was afraid of the shock I might experience. But when I got here nothing affected me, I felt at home. Of course I missed and still do miss my mother and my siblings back in São Tomé, but we always talk on the telephone, I’ve been back to see them more than once and to show them things from the artistic area I’ve learned from Cape Verdeans, namely tapestry and batik, and that I’d like to see people in São Tomé learn as well.
- But did you really not feel a shock when you saw the lunar landscape here on Sal, which contrasts totally with the luxurious green of São Tomé?
Well, it didn’t exactly bowl me over, but... After a month and a half I asked my brother José if it ever rained and he told me, “once in a while.” Once it rained a little and I started to play in the rain, as is the tradition in São Tomé and Príncipe, and people asked me “what are you doing in the middle of the rain?” I was taken aback by the question because in São Tomé rain is normal, and in fact things don’t come to a halt when it rains.
- Did you always choose to live on the island of Sal?
My base is on the island of Sal, but as an artist I don’t have any borders. I’m developing a project with the Sal municipal chamber to teach the art of sculpture to young people, but if things don’t work out, I’ll try it on another island, with pleasure.
- How was your taste for sculpture born?
It’s something that surprises even me. I was studying in the Polytechnic Center for professional training, and I was leaning more toward the area of construction. Later, at a particular moment, I saw that I was spending more of my time with sculpture in master Jonas’ center. My mother even chewed me out a bit because she felt that I was neglecting my area of study to latch onto art. You know, I really love art, in general. I would spend until late at night with master Jonas working at his studio, paying very close attention, until he began to teach me the basic techniques of sculpture. Some time later he began giving me some jobs to do... And today I work in sculpture, which I love.
- What awakened this love of sculpture? What is good and different about sculpture compared to other forms of artistic expression?
Art is beautiful, it can be displayed, and it offers many different possibilities for presentation. I can show a thousand pieces in different and always fascinating positions. Fir example, some time ago I made ten paintings to decorate a church in Barreiros, Portugal, on invitation from Bishop Ribas of São Tomé. They’re very beautiful, and they’ll remain there for posterity. I get invited by friends and colleagues to go to Angola, Portugal, to show my work. They’re surprised when I tell them I live in Cape Verde and ask me how it’s possible to make sculpture in a country that doesn’t produce any wood. Well, I invent, I have to invent. I remember during that Biennial I was the winner of we received a visit from the prime minister, who was surprised to see my works there and asked: “who’s this man from Sal who makes wood sculptures? How is this possible if there’s no wood in Cape Verde?” I replied “We make do with what we have.”
- And how do you get around this problem?
Sometimes I get wood from São Tomé and Príncipe, but it’s very expensive. So I use wood I buy here but that’s of lesser quality than that in São Tomé.
- How old were you when you made a sculpture for the first time?
I was about 12.
- Has wood sculpture always been your preferred art, or have you experimented with stone sculpture, for example, or any other form of artistic expression?
I like all art forms and I believe that with my love and talent for the arts I could also sculpt stone well. But the tools for sculpting stone are very expensive, while the tools needed to sculpt wood are cheaper and more accessible. This doesn’t mean that it’s a piece of cake, I also have a hard time finding tools to sculpt in wood. Most of the pieces I make are bas-relief, but I’d also like to do works in high relief. But these demand very heavy, large and expensive tools. And as Cape Verde is a country that doesn’t really have much of a tradition in sculpture and there are currently few sculptors, stores don’t import this type of tool, so it’s hard to find them on the Cape Verdean market. I’ve looked in lots of stores, but I still haven’t found a case with these tools, so I’ll have to import them from Brazil or Portugal.
- Like you said, Cape Verde does not have a sculpting tradition. So how do people react to your work?
What I’ve observed so far is that people like sculpture, praise my work, give me a hug to encourage me, which makes me happy and pushes me to continue. I might not be successful on a monetary level, but it causes an impact in people. I held an exhibit last year in Amílcar Cabral International Airport on Sal on invitation from ASA, and I spent most of the time talking to people, both foreigners and Cape Verdeans residing in the country and abroad, who wanted to know more about wood sculpture.
- In addition to the working conditions, what is the difference between the art you make here and the art you made in São Tomé and Príncipe?
The difference lies essentially in the traditions and in the culture. Back in São Tomé I would work with the country’s tradition themes, and here I work with Cape Verdean themes. The quality of the wood and purchasing power are also inferior here.
- But do you believe you can conquer this almost virgin market?
A number of companies and institutions put in orders, telling me ahead of time the themes they’re looking for. I know the biggest market is in Praia, the capital. If I could set up shop there, perhaps I could expand my network of clients.
- What is needed to be a good sculptor?
The first thing you need is to have a passion for it, because there’s nothing better than liking what you do. You also need to have ability, motivation and a willingness to work. Normally, the master will notice when you’re impassioned with an art, because you never want to leave the studio, you’re always trying to sculpt something, and he’ll tell you not to touch anything to see what your reaction is, he’ll observe your ability to design and your capacity to transpose it to wood. To be a good sculptor you need to be strong enough to use your wrists and the tools, which are pointed and should always be kept good and sharp.
- Would you like to have your own studio?
Yes, it’s a dream of mine to have a well-equipped atelier in order to serve my clients better. I’ve always worked surrounded by lots of people doing the same thing, sharing knowledge and techniques. So I’d like to have some children I could teach.
- And are there people interested?
Yes, all I need is to create the conditions to teach them.
- What’s the best age to begin to learn to sculpt?
The earlier the better. You don’t want to put a sharp tool in a child’s hands, as it could harm him, but rather paper and pencil to draw and perfect his technique and put him into contact with wood...Later, you teach the techniques of low and high relief, step by step.
- Do you feel alone in this art in Cape Verde?
- I’d like to meet with other sculptors so we could exchange experiences and knowledge. In Sal I have a colleague, Eliseu, but I’d like to meet other sculptors as well. I believe that there are people with talent but who haven’t appeared yet because of a lack of incentives, which makes them lose their desire to show their work. I’m willing to support them, to teach and help them perfect their techniques. All they have to do is ask.
Agusto Cego
A child prodigy, Agusto Cego was born in 1960 in the small village of Bobossó, Fogo, Cape Verde. He began playing the ukulele (cavaquinho) at the age of eight (8) and the guitar at eleven (11). By the time he lost his vision at the age of fourteen (14), he had mastered both instruments.
Self-taught, Agusto is a multi-talented musician who dominates many musical instruments, including the violin, clarinet, saxophone, flute, ukulele, harmonica, piano, and six and ten string guitars. In addition, he is a gifted singer with a beautiful mellow voice.
The
Boston Globe, in its Music headline - “Giving voice to Cape Verde”
– referred to Agusto Cego as “A warmly swinging singer; if he does
not have Evora’s depth (and who does?), he is more imaginative in his
phrasing and rhythm, and has the same gentle intimacy and old-time acoustic
feel. (6/16/00)”
Since 1993, Agusto has represented his native island of Fogo and Cape Verde in
numerous national and international music festivals, including appearances in
Switzerland, France, Germany and Sweden. In 1995, he was invited by the
Smithsonian Folk Live Festival to represent the island of Fogo, during the two
weeks cultural exposition dedicated to the islands of Cape Verde, held at
Washington Mall, Washington D.C.
Bobossó is Agusto Cego’s debut album - an upbeat mélange of Cape Verdean musical styles, including Talaia Baxu, Morna, Coladera and Mazurka. The album prominently features Agusto Cego on vocals, violin, guitar, ukulele, sax and clarinet. Filled with proverbs and yearning, Bobossó encompasses ten original compositions deeply rooted in the traditions of the island of Fogo and of Cape Verde.
The album is arranged, produced and co-authored by Ramiro Mendes, a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. Ramiro holds a degree in Commercial Arranging and Film Scoring. With over 30 albums to his credit, Ramiro has produced all of the top Cape Verdean artists, including Cesaria Evora, Bana, Tito Paris and the Angolan artist Waldemar Bastos.
Known as the genius of seven instruments, Agusto Cego will certainly not leave the music scene anytime soon. Currently he is working on his second album with the musical production by Kim Alves, one of the most prominent musicians in the Capeverdean music world.
Amandio Cabral
Amandio Cabral considers himself first and foremost a composer although throughout his life he has played guitar and sung his own songs. His music is full of the warmth, emotion and gentleness of his native Cabo Verde.
Amandio was born in Ribeira Brava on the island of São Nicolau on January 18, 1935. His parents were Antonio Cardozo Cabral (known as Antonio Clatanose) and Antonia Dalgiza Cabral (the daughter of Nho Jon Changinha from Rabona). He has four sisters, three of whom currently live in France and one in Dakar.
His father and four uncles were all musicians and his first instrument was the Capeverdean 10 string guitar, the viola, which he began playing at the age of 11 while living with an uncle. Around this time he moved with his mother to Mindelo (in São Vicente) and began studying woodworking at a polytechnic school, with little time to play music.
He was 18 and living with an aunt (after his mother moved to Dakar) when he began playing guitar. His first composition was inspired by his mother’s leaving and was entitled Sodade de Mama (also known as Novos d’Alegria). One of his earliest compositions was Sodade, later made famous by Cesaria Evora.
The noted guitar maker Nho Batista gave Amandio a very wonderful guitar and he began performing around Mindelo with more established musicians, writing many songs based on his life experiences. As throughout his life these early songs were never composed just to create a song: They always came from deep in his heart and conveyed the emotions that he felt for the people and circumstances around him. Often Amandio and his fellow musicians performed on the radio. Several of these live performances were taped and later released as recordings without the musician’s knowledge. It was in this way that many of his early songs became well known.
He traveled to Dakar in 1959 and to Portugal in 1960 where he performed extensively on radio and television broadcasts. The Portuguese government sponsored tours throughout Europe and Africa and in 1965 to the United States, where he performed primarily at colleges and universities. He spent six months in New Bedford, Massachusetts, before moving to San Francisco where he has remained ever since.
In San Francisco Amandio performed constantly for several years, hosting a television show for a year and a half and studying music theory at San Francisco State University for two years. In 1965 he was married, but the marriage lasted only a short period of time, producing a son, Nicolau Cabral, who currently lives in Los Angeles.
Amandio has remained in San Francisco, composing and (very rarely) performing his music. His other pursuits include restoring antique furniture and collecting fine art. He maintains a simple and peaceful life style, surrounded by his art and music.
In the mid 1970s Amandio met Larry Dunlap, a pianist originally from Oregon and a strong musical friendship developed that continues to this day. Their collaborations have produced seven recordings, the most recent of which, Basio de N’Amor, features Amandio’s singing accompanied by Mr. Dunlap’s arrangements and piano with a six piece band. A new recording is currently being planned.
Ano Nobo (Ano Novo)
By Herminio Furtado
CVMusicWorld.com Chief Editor
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Musician, poet and dramaturge, Fulgênçio C. Lopes Tavares, for many known as master Ano Nobo, suffered a heart attack last week (January 14th) in his house in São Domingos where he died shortly after. He was buried the following day in a ceremony attended by many illustrious figures such as the President of the Republic of Cape Verde, Pedro Pires, and also by many musicians who admired this master of music such as Ildo Lobo. They all played and sang goodbye to now deceased Ano Novo.
Ano Novo left behind more than 400 musical compositions, of which about 150 were published by tens of interpreter as Ildo Lobo and Zéca Nha Reinalda. Ano Novo testified its adventures and disaventures in love and friendship, as well as of those around him, and registered the history of its people through musical verses and teather. For his outstanding work, the master was honored by former Capeverdean President António Mascarenhas with the medal of Vulcano as a great Capeverdean composer.
An adventurer and expert in many musical instruments, such as violin, ukelele, harmonica, guitar and piano, Ano Novo proved to be a curious man and discovered many new talents in the deepest of his own being. In his search for new adventures, he not only leaned over traditional music of Cape Verde such as morna, coladeira and funana, but also extended to the overseas styles such as merengue, cumbia and the samba. Ano Novo always wrote on the episodes of the human life, but it was in the middle of nature that he found inspiration to write verses and plays. “I enjoy being alone with plants,” He tolds us in an interview when he came to the US in treatment over a year ago. “It is there that I feel the inspiration especially in the morning “
The master started to play guitar when he was only 12 years old with the aid of the mother who was a singer. Music is innate to him, knowing that both his grandparent and great-grandparents were the masters of municipal band in the city of Praia. He made his first musical composition when he was 17 years old that was entitled “Julí”, a morna interpreted by our great deceased singer Frank Mimita in the band “ Voz De Cabo Verde .” In the beginning of his artistic career, together with Frank Mimita, he played in bars and restaurants for Capeverdean nights.
It was then that he also composed “ Ta Pinga Tchapu Tchapu” , recorded by Ildo Lobo, Bana and Gardenia Benros. Other great successes of this master was funana “Domingo Dencho,” interpreted by Zéca Nha Reinalda, “ Camarada Pepe Lopi ,” “ Ta Kundum Kundum ,” by Ildo Lobo, mornas “Linda” and “ Falsia d'Amigo” sung by Frank Mimita and “ Nha Mudjer,” interpreted by Danny Silva, just to cite some of his great compositions.
Ano Novo was the father of 18 children of which almost all play guitar and/or sing. Of them, the most successful is Dicki D'Ano Nobo, who is one of the best capeverdean guitar players and also a composer of many songs. The master left behind a musical culture notable mainly in São Domingos where he taught many people how to play guitar.
Ariëtte
Ariëtte was born in Rotterdam ( Holland) in the year 1977. With catholic parents she began visiting church from an early age in which she was very active.
And
so she joined the choral group, where she discovered her passion for music and
being a singer. From this period on she started singing on family parties and
participating in playback shows.
In 1997 she was invited to participate on the "Bodona" album of Gil
& the Perfects.
After the recording she also participated on the shows during the promotion tour of the album. From here on she started her musical career and started getting known in the music world. She participated on the second edition of the Lusodance series with the song "Cuzé Sta Passa" which was a number one hit for eleven weeks in the Luso-african charts in Portugal.
Also she participated on Lusodance 3 with the song "Amor De Mas Ou Menos". After that she participated on various other compilations like Mobass and Venus. "Dedicaçons" is Ariëtte's first solo album and we invite you to appreciate her dedication to people and beliefs. You will certainly enjoy her enchanting voice and melodies accompanied by arrangements conducted by the "hottest" musicians from Rotterdam.
Bana
Adriano Gonçalves--a.k.a. Bana--came into the world in the port city of Mindelo. With more than thirty albums under his belt, this master of morna and coladeira has a career in the recording industry that spans five decades and has fittingly been called the King of the Cape Verde Islands.
As
a young boy, Bana was surrounded by the music of local singers. At fourteen, he
would stay out late with local musicians as they serenaded the city with
melodious songs. His mother was not happy with her young son's habits. She saw
his late night adventures as wild, teenage behavior, worthy of punishment. Her
opinion soon changed as the young singer's reputation began to spread around
the island. When people began running to Bana's mother to request his
appearance at parties and ceremonies, she could no longer deny his talent.
By 1953, Bana had come under the influence of Francisco Xavier da Cruz, known
professionally as B. Leza. B. Leza's impact on Cape Verdean music cannot be
overstated. In the 1950s, this famous uncle of Cesaria Evora taught Bana and
many others the art of the morna. Late in his life, B. Leza was paralyzed and
confined to a wheelchair. The stout Bana used to actually carry B. Leza to
performances. Suffering from shortness of breath, B. Leza shortened his words,
swallowed his syllables and reinvented the Cape Verdean morna to accommodate
his illness. He used these techniques with such grace and success that they
have become characteristic of Cape Verdean music. Under B. Leza's influence,
Bana's musical style gained a similar melodic flow and rhythm.
When B. Leza died in 1958, Bana was on his own. Soon, he went to Dakar,
Senegal--the nearest big city--where he recorded his first album in 1962. The
four-song album was simple and successful, selling 2,000 copies in the first
two weeks. His work took him to France and later Holland, where he recorded two
more successful albums. Around this time, Bana formed his own band, which he
called A Voz de Cabo Verde (The Voice of Cape Verde). Collaborating with fellow
Cape Verdean musicians Luis Morais, Toi De Bibla, Jean Da Lomba, Morgadinho,
and Frank Cavaquinho, Bana created a sound that has been the model for Cape
Verdean bands ever since. The group's name could not have been more
appropriate. Bana's albums were successful not only in São Vicente and
the other islands of Cape Verde. Cape Verdeans in Portugal, Italy, France,
Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and the United States recognized Bana's Portuguese
Creole mornas as the voice of their people heard around the world.
By
the late 1960s, Bana was performing sold-out shows from Lisbon to Luanda. After
an extended tour of Angola's capital city and countryside, Bana decided to slow
down briefly in Portugal and open a Cape Verdean restaurant. Bana's Monte Cara
is both a restaurant and a nightclub. It has been called Lisbon's "mecca
for African music." Meanwhile, Bana continued to tour around the world and
expanding his international following.
Back in Cape Verde in 1975, Bana found himself on the wrong side of
revolutionary politics. He was accused of collaborating with colonial powers,
and forced to return to Lisbon. He received an official apology seven years
later and returned to a warm welcome.
In 1986, after more than forty years of singing, Bana decided to retire after
one last tour of Cape Verde and its huge diaspora. Then, after a ten-year break
from the business, Bana took a vacation from retirement to record the album
Gira Sol, which was arranged and produced by Ramiro Mendes of MB Records, and
in 1998 he recorded his last album Livro Infinito produced by Kim Alves.
Cape Verde has changed a great deal since a fourteen year-old boy stayed out late to serenade the streets of São Vicente. Born in Cape Verde under the flag of Portugal, Bana has evolved into an international symbol of an independent nation. He has received honors and the Medal of Grand Merit award from the president of Cape Verde, as well as the president of Portugal.
Bana: If I live another 200 years
Thursday, January 19, 2006 - Sodade Music Magazine
Bana: “If I live another 200 years, I will continue to sing the folklore of Cape Verde. Morna and Coladera are my life, they are in my blood.”
Without any doubt the master interpreter of morna and coladeira, Adriano “Bana” Gonçalves has been in the recording industry for more than five decades, releasing hit albums such as “Girasol,” “Livro Infinito,” “Nha Terra,” “Pensamento e Segredo,” “A voz de Cabo Verde,” and “Perseguida” among others. However, time has taken its toll on the 73 year-old Giant of Capeverdean music. During his US trip, between recording sessions and his numerous performances, we caught up with Bana who never shies away from talking about himself, his legacy, and others of course. Leaning over a table, he speaks softly, choosing every word carefully before answering any questions, which from time to time trigger mixed emotions. On some occasions, his big smile lights up his weathered face. On others, he nonchalantly wipes tears from his tired eyes. Nonetheless, his answers were always clear-cut, straightforward and controversial at times.
How is Bana doing these days?
Well, I have had better days but I feel good. A lot of people think that Bana is done but they don’t know that Bana is big and can not be erased easily. Look at me, my health is not what it used to be but I am still alive, living and breathing every day. I am a bit tired and some people don’t want to see me where I am today with my career.
And where are you now?
Satisfied, I am satisfied. I am happy to be in the United States where I am doing what I like to do. I came here to record my new album. I am very grateful because I have young musicians who are working hard on this album. Musicians such as Kalú Monteiro and Djim Job, also Zé Rui De Pina, Dicky di Ano Novo, and of course Ramiro Mendes, all who have done so much for Capeverdean music.
Let’s talk about this new album…
I decided to record this album because of one song, which is dedicated to the late Adriano “Guigui” Barros. Without this song I don’t think I would have recorded this album. Deodato da Silva, a poet who has also passed away, had given me a verse about Guigui and I was looking for someone to compose the music. I finally found my dear friend Manuel D’Novas.
Since you mentioned Capeverdean music, as one of its main contributors, are you happy with the way it is moving?
Listen, I don’t like the way Cape Verde’s folklore (music) is being treated. People are claiming that they are singing music of Cape Verde but they are not. The music of Cape Verde has too much value, it is precious. I sing morna and coladera from the heart and I am known because of that. Spain has Julio Iglesias, Brazil has Roberto Carlos, and Cape Verde has Bana. I don’t think that these people understand the wealth of Capeverdean music. They have to sing it from the heart like I have always done.
One of the milestones of your long career is “Baias das Gatas 2004.” How did you feel to be honored at this festival?
It was a great feeling. I was invited longtime ago but because of health and other problems, it was postponed. The new Mayor (Isaura Gomes) had told me long before she was elected that I would be her first big honored guest. I was of course very touched throughout the event and even today when I think about it. It was very emotional and unforgettable.
You have had a pretty long career. What made Bana so durable?
I always lived for music. I always made music my life. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to live off music. That’s why I always pick my songs carefully because I know what people want to hear. Nowadays, most of these artists can not live on music because they have to work to feed their families. I understand their positions but they have to somehow make a choice. This is the only way they will be able to prosper. I stayed around because I persisted and never regret it.
You are moving closer and closer to retirement. Do you believe there is someone lined up to follow your footsteps?
I am in fact not very young anymore but I am not retiring yet (ah aha). I sincerely believe that there are enough talents out there, particularly here in the US. Now, the question is whether they will take it seriously like I always did. I lived for music and nothing else. They have to love the folklore of Cape Verde like I do, make it their life. If I live another 200 years, I will continue to sing folklore of Cape Verde. Morna and Coladera are part of my life, they are in my blood. It is easy to be a singer but you have to know where you want to go. Talent is not enough.
So far, what has been the most rewarding moment of your career?
There are several because I have been around a long time like you have said several times. I would definitely say that my performance at the Lisbon Coliseum is up there. I was not only the first African to perform there but also the only one to perform in front of a sold out crowd. I remember days preceding the show people were speculating whether the place was too big for Bana (ah ah ah). I proved them wrong. I stepped on stage and opened with a few mornas. The crowd was happy, pleased to see their Bana. The Portuguese Prime Minister was present, the Mayor of Lisbon also. Bonga came up on stage and game me a big hug. I will never for get it. They should never doubt Bana.
Can you talk about how you started your career?
I started with my good friend Luis Morais who passed away a few years ago, God bless his soul. We were living in Dakar, Senegal, at that time. Luis and I used to sing around the city and little by little people started to talk about us. It was even before we founded the band “Voz di Cabo Verde.”
Of course “Voz di Cabo Verde,” the beginning of Bana’ career…
Bana started before “Voz di Cabo Verde.” However, when you talk about “Voz di Cabo Verde,” you are really talking about Luis Morais, Morgadinho and me. Luis was an outstanding musician who always looked for perfection. Other members of the band did not understand or got along with him because of that. We had a good band but a lot more problems within. Most of the band members did not understand that we were taking it seriously. Some were good musicians and others thought that they were good musicians. But they did not know that Luis, Morgadinho and I were the band. They wanted to see the money right away because they had their families to feed. When I saw that we were having these kinds of issues, I decided to go my way.
Would you have done anything differently in your career?
As far as singing, I would never change a thing. I have always been very satisfied with my career because I made my own decisions. I have also been very lucky to be surrounded by mastermind musicians such as Luis Morais, Paulino Vieira, and later Toy Vieira and Ramiro Mendes. These are musicians who know me, know how and what I like to sing. Paulino never needed to rehearse.
How was your relationship like with Paulino?
Paulino is a great composer and outstanding musician. For me, he is one of or if not the best. I always liked to play with him, always respected him as a musician and as a man. I appreciate everything that he has done for me and my career. I am sure he appreciates what I have done for him also. We had a very good relationship. Now we don’t see each other much and I guess we don’t have a relationship.
You have worked with numerous composers and musicians throughout your career. Who would you say you felt more comfortable with?
The first was B. Leza whom I admire greatly. Then, Manuel D’Novas with whom I recorded my first LP in Holland. He wrote the song Terezinha: “Oh Mos No bai pa Terezinha… La ten Mininhas di sai kurta.” Such a wonderful song! He gave it to me and said “If you want to change anything you can go ahead and do it.” I ended up changing a few lines which were a bit disrespectful to women. I also appreciate Kalú and Djim Job, Ramiro, Toy, and many others.
Last year, Cape Verde lost one of its greatest voices. How did you take Ildo Lobo’s death?
The news was devastating to me and I am sure to others. Ildo and I were great friends. (Silence…he pauses and wipes tears) We liked to be around each other, to talk about music and other stuff. We had tremendous respect for one another. Unfortunately, he chose a different path, a different way to live his life. I respected him as a friend and as a singer. I was and still very sadden because we had some great moments together. He could really sing. Cape Verde lost one of its best sons.
What is left now for Bana?
I don’t really know. After the album comes out, I will see what will happen. I have offered so much to a lot of people, to my country in particular. I am thinking about writing my memoirs one of these days. I have a lot to say about my life, my career. I have already talked to a writer who wants to do it but it is going to cost a lot of money. I have had a lot of promises in the past, but now it is time because if you look at what I have done throughout my career for Cape Verde, I believe I deserve something back. I am not asking for charity, I will never beg anyone, I am just asking.
Bau
CVMusicWorld.com Thursday, February 24, 2005
Rufino Almeida, a.k.a. Bau, is a native of São Vicente, one of the Cape Verde archipelago islands which was the birthplace of many artists: Cesaria Evora, Bana, Titina, Tito Paris... and composers, as B. Leza, Manuel de Novas, Frank Cavaquim, Goy, Vasco Martins...
Bau’s father was a stringed instruments maker in Mindelo and gave him for his seventh birthday his first instrument, a cavaquinho, which is a small four strings guitar, similar to a ukulele, used in Brazil and in Cape Verde to mark the beat. Then his father taught him how to make instruments like guitars, cavaquinhos, violins but also how to play them; and Bau didn’t stop until he mastered his musical skills.
That allowed him to combine an instrumental virtuosity with his instinctive autodidact sensitivity. Bau’s favorite cavaquinho player was the Brazilian virtuoso, Waldir Azevedo; however he also admired the «guitara flamenca» style of Al Di Meola or the violin of Stephane Grapelli. But beyond these influences, Bau gets also this island’s musician’s charm and this elegance that make the Capeverdean music syncopated, rhythmic, nostalgic and intimate.
In 1994, Bau integrated the band (conducted by Paulino Vieira) that accompanied Cesaria Evora on stage. In 1996, Bau became the director of this musical formation and started to travel around the world thanks to Cesaria’s world success. He also participated to the realization of the albums Cabo Verde (1997) and Café Atlantico (1999).
In September 99, Bau gave up the direction of Cesaria’s band to the pianist Nando Andrade and went back to Mindelo, his island. That’s where he conceived the album Blimundo, which is all about finesse and musical subtleties and remains to date his most achieved piece of work.
Beto Dias
Beto Dias, one of the most appreciated Cape Verdean artists of our time, has recorded three solo albums and two group albums with the notorious Rabelados Band.
Like an eagle, Beto took his flight in music with determination and perseverance and has reached the zenith that most CV music artist envy, since he recorded for the first time with his band, Os Rabelados, in 1998. The album entitled "Unidadi e Luta" (Unity and Struggle) includes the song "Nhu Santu Amaru", which will be forever remembered as one of Beto's greatest hits. True to his style and musical principles, he preserved the excellence of CV music while taking it to ever-higher dimensions. His contribution to CV music surpasses that of any other living artist.
His ability to compose and to play guitar and especially his charisma to write poetic lyrics are characteristics peculiar to him that many envy. Beto is known especially for his romantic lyrics that stir the hearts of young fans. From the beginning of his career to his latest solo release (Nos 2), Beto’s romanticism changed from a troubadour expression of a bitter sweet love as is the case in the song "Dor di Amor" in his first solo "Sodadi" and later "Ki Vida" in Rabeladus' "Sukuro" to a realized love that he sings in Nos 2, his last work, a song that many believe was in honor of his then wife Suzana.
When asked if his romantic lyrics aren't pages of his love stories, Beto denies this view of his works in a very unconvincing reply by saying, "It is an amazing coincidence that every time I write a song something happens in my life that leads the public to draw false conclusions". "My love songs and my love affairs aren't connected as many seem to believe", he continues, supporting that "Ki Vida I wrote at a time where nothing was happening in my life, but when it was released I was just finishing a relationship with someone I really loved". With a smile of bewilderment, Beto sees this coincidence as "pure bad luck".
Recently, Beto experienced the ending of his love affairs with Suzana, the CV artist with whom he shares some of his many musical experiences. Rumors run of marital betrayals by Suzana, and on stage at the Club Plato, Beto admits playfully that he was dumped. Someone from the audience teased him saying that another artist (Vado) took Suzana away him, and to that he replied, "I wasn't the first or the second and surely won't be the last" to go through that with Suzana. When asked if there is another chance for the two of them, Beto took a long way just to arrive to a "No" nearby. "Life is tough, and nobody should sacrifice happiness just to keep a relationship going". His life has been a history of unfortunate love affairs, and it is to his view, "hard to really know when someone loves you for you or for the artist".
The shining beams of his eyes revealed the beginning of a new relationship that he later would confide to us but wouldn't talk much about except to say that, "I am fortunate to have her". Again, Beto is in a relationship when his last song "a look suffices" (um olhar é suficiente), recorded with a group of artists in the album "Creole Som", can easily be connoted to his currently affair. In that song he says, "My heart trusts the one who deserves it". Despite all the disappointments in relationship, he keeps his faith in love.
The songs, he so charmingly performs, are not only about love but are also about the country that he had to abandon with sorrow as many other CV born, but it was especially painful having to say farewell to a dear mother. "Music was the best way to express the love and sodadi (longing) I felt for my mother", Beto revealed with a pitch of nostalgia in his voice. In his latest solo, he dedicated track 5 (Mamai) to his mother where he asks for forgiveness. "My mom asked me what was she forgiving me for?" he told us answering, "but I don't know; maybe it is because I could have been a better son than I was".
Another of his greatest inspirations is a childhood lived in the paradise of his homeland. In that regard he reminisced, "I had a childhood beautiful to recall and retell". His childhood memories kept life going when the absence from home tortured his nostalgic feelings. Far away from home, Beto paid tribute to his people by singing "Sodadi", a song that all Cape Verdeans who left the islands looking for a better future for themselves and for their country can relate with. “Sodadi” is indeed one of his greatest hits that cries the woes of CV children abroad.
As a young man, Beto listened and appreciated the works of artists like Catchaz of Bulimundo, of whom he says, "I think we should not forget the great musical contributions by artists like Catchaz". He is one of the few artists who kept traditional music, particularly funana, going strong. "Currently there are two versions of funana in the market", and he lists: "one for the clubs and another more traditional". "But I have a great appreciation for the traditional style of playing funana with more guitar the way Catchaz composed his songs". "I highly praise the way Ferro Gaita plays funana", he complements the revolutionary work of this traditional band that has broken all the restrictions expected of an African folk music to become also a modern tradition.
However faithful to his style and traditions, he welcomes new influences in CV music. "I don't see anything wrong with adopting new styles our music", he forwarded reiterating, "It gives me joy to see new generation creating new styles". "We don't have to conserve too much". "I think it is great to create, and I have the highest respect for these new artists that are developing CV music". "As long as they keep it real and write what they really feel, I think it is fine to change, and I even admire artists like Duku and Arthur who are doing amazing things with CV music", he explained referring to the song "Subi Dixi" by Duko and Arthur. "I am proud of how the new generation is developing CV music, and I would like for the public not to criticize them too much".
For instance, Beto believes that rap is taking CV music to a higher level. "Here in the US, you have a great rapper that sends clear messages", he commends the work of Djedje. "That is what rap is about, the positive message it sends", he says and explains the limitations of his musical liberalism when he warns new artists that, "of course if you just open your mouth to say nothing in rap, people will criticize". Beto sees rap as introducing CV music especially in the US when he says that, "When an American hears a CV rapper rapping they will be curious about our music".
Africa is dearly caressed in Beto's lyrics, which shows his Black pride and dedication to his mother continent. In Rabeladus first album "Unidadi e Luta", Beto sings referring to Africa, "We wanna live in unity and love". In his latest solo album "Nos 2", he reminds, "Let’s not forget we are Africans", in track 3 (Africa). When ask to explain his love for the black continent that some Cape Verdeans are reluctant to identify with, he reminds us with a note of grief that "Africa is our mother and everything". "There is no other place I could sing about, but Africa", he says with a more joyful timber. "If I could walk on the street everyday saying that I am an African, I would. I am proud of being an African child, and I have to sing about that, because that is the reality we can't escape from", he ends with a thrilled tune.
Belinda Lima
Bringing Warm Tones with an Exciting, Spiritual Emotion.
Hailing from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Ms. Belinda is no stranger to the music world. For two decades, she has dazzled audiences from all over with her deep, silky smooth voice.
Currently, Cape Verdean music lovers are getting a soulful uplifting of Ms. Belinda with her album, Realidade D’Amour. It is an adventure into a new sound for this exotic diva. The music takes Ms. Belinda back to her roots, displaying her elegance for mornas – a Cape Verdean version of blues.
She credits this God given talent to the gospel inspirations of singer Helen Baylor and groups like the Winans. Ms. Belinda also finds influence with artists like the Jacksons (namely Janet and Michael Jackson) and even the barefoot diva, Cesaria Evora, who has helped push Cape Verdean music into the spotlight with her Grammy nominated album, Cesaria.
Aside from music, Ms. Belinda also finds time to add acting, dancing and modeling to her long list of talents. She has won several regional competitions in her career, such as Miss Photogenic Rhode Island and Miss Black Rhode Island.Ms. Belinda, however, is not just another pretty face.
She can hold her own when it comes to performing with others in the music industry.
She has opened shows for such well-known artists as R&B singer Brian McKnight, dance diva Robin S. and hip-hop group K-7. She has also done work with producers from Epic, Polygram and RCA recorders as well as Tiny Tavares of the disco, R&B group, Tavares and producers of Devante from JODECI.
Her soulful voice attracts audiences by the thousands.
Ms. Belinda has been showcased in several festivals and tours such as Disney’s 50th Anniversary Tour, Baia Das Gatas ’87-‘89, in Sao Vicente and Gamboa ‘98-‘99 in Praia, Cape Verde Islands. All of the concerts were televised worldwide on RTP International Television.
In the past, the government of Cape Verde has welcomed Ms. Belinda several times to perform for crowds of 50,000+ at their expense. She is considered a valued musical treasure.
However, Cape Verde is not the only country to be graced with her beautiful talent. She has performed in such countries as Angola, Germany, Holland and several other European and African nations. Now, her goal is to take on the United States.
Ms. Belinda is ready in mind, body and spirit to take on the world with her new trek into a more spiritual, more traditional route of Cape Verdean music. As Ms. Belinda says, "I want to represent the culture and make it widely accepted and admired."
Is the World hungry enough for this soulful diva?
Bety Fernandes, Raiz di polon
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=2516 21/05/2005
“There’s something that connects them to the sky and to the earth”
The African tour embarked upon by Raiz di Polon’s two female dancers, Bety Fernandes and Rosy Timas, one year after having won the special jury prize in a competition in Madagascar, was news in all of Cape Verde’s media outlets. Accompanied by producer Jeff Hessney and lighting technician Edson Fortes, the dancers who give body to “Duas Sem Três” traveled through seventeen African countries in approximately two months. Back in Cape Verde, Bety Fernandes tells A SEMANA ONLINE about the group’s adventures in the dark continent.
One question I have to ask: what did you get ou tof this tour?
In general terms, it was very positive on an artistic level and for projecting Raiz di Polon, but it was positive on a spiritual level as well. It was a very strong experience in both the professional and personal fields.
It was a huge trip through Africa...
Definitely. We went to seventeen countries, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Djibouti, Madagascar, Mauritius, Burundi, Rwanda. And all of them gave us something very special on an artistic level - the people, the landscapes, simple things like plants, animals or expressions.
I read in an interview with Jeff Hessney on Lantuna that in some places you were the first Cape Verdeans to visit. How did the public react to your presence and to your dancing?
They reacted in a very positive and sincere way. They would thank us because we had brought them something new, and in countries with recent problems with war, such as Rwanda or Burundi, they thanked us because we’d given them a moment of joy. They also showed great interest in knowing how we made certain movements, in knowing what the props we’d brought were, such as firewood or wash bins. Children would surround us at the end of the shows and barrage us with questions, touch our makeup. It was very interesting.
Did Cape Verde pique their curiosity as well?
Very much so. I like to say that in addition to having played the role of dancer, I wa salso a teacher about Cape Verde. I even went around with a map of Africa in my pocket, where I’d drawn our islands, which didn’t even appear on the map. Every time they asked me where our country was located, I’d show them the map. They’d ask us funny questions, like if we ate with our hands or if Cape Verde had forests and lions. So we’d have to explain to them that we were colonized by the Portuguese and that we had absorbed many of their customs, among them eating with silverware, and of course that Cape Verde doesn’t have forests or lions. It was good for me too, because I became conscious for the first time of many aspects related to our country and culture that often escaped me.
At any point, did you have to adapt the performance because of cultural issues?
Yes. For example, in Muslim countries we had to take out a part in which Rosy and I cover our chests with only a cloth.
After this tour of Africa, and with the contact you’ve already had with the European artistic milieu, what elements do you recognize from one or the other continent in Cape Verdan dance?
Traditional African dance definitely gave us the expression, the energy, the soul, the feeling, the push that characterizes us. On the other hand, we have this European side characterized by a certain smoothness that is also present in morna or mazurka, for example. Interestingly, everyplace we went people would ask us where our djembe was, because for them dancing and drums go together. So we’d have to explain to them that this wasn’t a very widely used instrument in Cape Verde and that our way of doing things was different, that we had our own music elaborated especially for our performance.
On the level of bodily expression, what elements make Cape Verdean dances different from those of continental African countries?
Well, in South Africa, for example, they way they move their hips is very particular. It doesn’t resemble the movements of batuko, it’s got a different swing, another connection to the earth and to the music. Although batuko has an African inspiration, over time it ended up taking on that European smoothness, it became “creolized,” let’s say. As far as I could tell, there’s a certain unity in the continent as far as bodily expression is concerned. There are hip movements such as those in South Africa that are easily recognizable in all of the countries, but that Cape Verde doesn’t have, for some reason.
What movements and postures of the African peoples captured your attention most, and how did you transmit this in the performance?
“Duas Sem Três” is already a part of me, but I think there were certain elements that may have influenced my performances in a certain way. I was really struck by the way some people walked, the calm that still exists in their movements, the way they carry things on their heads, how they carry children on their backs.
Africa is characterized by its endless expanses. In what way did this feeling of immensity influence the expressiveness of the performances, since one of the factors that limit the dancer is precisely the size of the stage?
This freedom and energy were present not just in the performances, but in the way we did things on an everyday basis. And since I visited places that I knew were practically virgin, I often felt a sensation of beginning and of being bombarded with stimuli coming from every direction. When this would happen, I’d fell an incredible urge to dance. We also saw groups performing traditional African dance. I don’t know exactly how to describe it, but there’s something that connects them to the sky and to the earth, to the point that they become ecstatic, and the person disappears and is transformed into pure energy. When you’re in contact with this, you begin to see new possibilities. I would like to have been able to travel outside of the cities, where things are purer and where dances are normally associated with rituals. But because of time constraints, this wasn’t possible.
Is pure traditional African dance, then, a path you’d like to follow?
Traditional dance is my foundation, like ballet is for some dancers. But I want to invest in contemporary dance, because it allows me greater creative freedom, since there’s room to integrate elements from various styles, among them traditional dance. But in order to integrate it and determine a genre of dance, obviously I first have to be familiar with all its depth. Then I can gather inspiration from all these types of elements, and transpose them to my dance, which can be based on a woman in a market, a flow, an animal, anything.
How do you intend to take advantage of this experience on an artistic level?
I’d like to do more research, and perhaps even go back to some of the places we went, such as Mozambique and South Africa. I think this could result in an interesting piece of work. Rosy and I are also thinking of developing a second part to “Duas Sem Três,” since we share a great deal of complicity and many people have asked to see a sequel.
Pedro Miguel Cardoso
Bitú: Naturalness on the tip of his brush
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=12498 11-10-05
The 50-minute Bitú is a new documentary by Leão Lopes, and is currently in the editing phase. The Cape Verdean filmmaker claims he chose Bitú as the subject of his documentary because the artist is “one of those painters who is most representative of the popular imagination of Mindelo.”
Discover the career of this self-taught painter in this interview in which, in addition to his penchant for painting children, Bitú talks about his love for Mindelo’s Carnaval and reveals his dream of seeing a school of fine arts set up in Cape Verde.
You are the central figure in a documentary that Leão Lopes recently filmed and in which he analyzes your work as a painter. How did you feel at having been chosen by Leão Lopes?
I was extremely happy. Indeed, I’d like to take advantage of this opportunity to thank Leão Lopes for having chosen me. It was an incredible experience I’ll never forget.
How did you feel in front of the cameras?
I felt at ease, because Leão Lopes had warned me and prepared me to be in front of the cameras as naturally as possible. He told me then the camera was on to act like it wasn’t there. On the first day it was hard, but as time went by everything went alright.
Have you seen the footage yet? Were you happy with the results?
I saw the images still raw, before editing. But I can say that the results are interesting. Now we just have to wait to see the final product.
How did you discover the world of painting?
My taste for painting comes from the time I attended the Salesianos school. At the time, I liked to make drawings and paint with colored pencils. I won a few prizes too (pens, notebooks and other school supplies). Later I began to paint with watercolors and then with these normal paints. At the time I had the opportunity to meet with great artists, such as, for example, Leonel Madeira, and learn new things with them.
When did you r first exhibition take place?
I haven’t carried out any individual exhibitions yet, but I’ve already got one scheduled. It will probably take place after the collective exhibition of Mindelo artists that will take place in November in Praia.
How do you define your painting style?
I don’t know what style it is. It was born of years of practice without any pre-set definition, and it evolved as I experimented with new colors, observed the work of other artists and applied new techniques.
Have you ever attended a painting course? Or do you learn through books?
Like so many other artists from this country, I’m self-taught, as here in Cape Verde there’s no way to receive training in painting. I paint because I like to, and with much good will I continue painting in my free time, for it’s not an art you can live off of in our country.
Considering the fact that this is a hobby, how do you earn your living?
I do a little of everything, I do odd jobs that come up on a daily basis and help me survive.
You said that you’ve never even held an individual exhibition and have participated in very few collective exhibitions. Since there are no art galleries in Cape Verde, how do you sell your paintings?
I sell more outside of Cape Verde. I have friends who live abroad, and when they come here on vacation, if they wish to take something back from their beloved homeland, they buy my paintings. As far as Cape Verdeans residing in the country are concerned, they rarely buy my paintings. And when they do decide to buy one they complain so much about the price that in some cases I practically let them have them for free.
But in addition to painting, you also work with sculpture, is that correct?
Yes, that’s right. This is a consequence of my involvement in Carnaval groups. You know, the artists who build the floats learn to do a little of everything, and this is my case as well.
Since you introduced the theme of Carnaval, I’ll ask you: how long have you been working with Carnaval groups?
I was invited in 1979 by Mr. Artur Boxe, who has since passed away, to work with a group called Belo Horizonte. Someone had told him I was good at conceiving floats and costumes, as I’d already done some work for a theater group that used to exist here in Ribeira Bote, and they began along with Manu Rasta. And we’ve kept on doing it since.
What other Carnaval groups have you worked with?
I’ve worked with almost all of São Vicente’s Carnaval groups. But I worked much longer, almost twenty years, with my group, Estrelas do Mar. Currently I work with Samba Tropical.
What’s the main challenge when working with the construction of floats? Does the artist have complete freedom or is there a specific theme or type of float that he is expected to do?
Samba Tropical is the only group that tells what theme it’s going to deal with, and, based on this, we build the floats. But the other groups I’ve worked with gave me total freedom to create my works. So the themes and the floats were the responsibility of myself and my work staff.
These floats demand hours and hours on end of work, dedication and lack of sleep. How do you feel when you see these works abandoned and damaged the day after Carnaval?
It makes me very sad. We spend so many hours conceiving and building these works with love. You know, sometimes we create works that we ourselves doubt we have created, they’re so beautiful.
Would a Carnaval Museum be a good idea, then?
This is an idea that’s been talked about for quite some time but has yet to become reality. It’s too bad, because every year sculptures, paintings and other works are created that deserve to be on permanent display so that the people of Cape Verde and tourists can enjoy them.
Back to painting. What is it you like to paint most?
Children.
Why?
Children are totally natural, naive, free, without any falsity. You can see what’s going on in their souls in their eyes and their gestures. But I also like to paint the landscapes and cultural manifestations of Cape Verde.
What is your opinion of the work of younger artists?
Young artists have many more possibilities than those of us who began in the 1980s. Today, they have books, the internet and materials available to them, including paints and brushes that we couldn’t find at the time we began. We even had trouble finding brushes, and would create our own brushes because of this difficulty.
How did you do this?
We’d get ourselves sticks and animal fur, from pigs or goats, and we’d tie it in a bunch on the end of the sticks.
How old are you now?
45.
If a fine arts school were to open up right now in São Vicente, would you still feel the energy and desire to attend a painting course?
Of course. As long as we’re alive there’s always time to learn new things. Even if I were 60 or 70, I wouldn’t miss the opportunity.
What is your dream as an artist?
I would really like there to be a visual arts school in Cape Verde, where new and older artists could learn and share experiences and knowledge, creating a link between generations.
Boy Gé Mendes
http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/artists/artist_page.php?id=1199
Biography: Back in 1990, before the great success of Cesaria Evora, Boy Gé Mendes put the music of Cape Verde on the map with his hit song "Grito de Bo Fidje."
Born in 1952 as Gerard Mendes, Boy Gé Mendes' adventure began in Dakar, Senegal. His father was a punch card operator and his mother a seamstress. They were living in Dakar like many Cape Verdeans. In Félix Faure Street, downtown, Gerard Mendes grew up among friends from Mali, Senegal, Guinea and Cape Verde. He developed a taste for singing in his Catholic school choir, and at parties and fairs. Later, Mendes started to perform at seedy piano bars like the Marseille, the Black & White and the Alhabama. In those days he sang cover songs by the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, rhythm and blues and salsa, in French and phonetically in English or Spanish.
In 1967 Mendes put together his first group, the Beryls, with one of his brothers. This marked the start of a hectic life of concerts and festivals throughout Senegal. Mendes began to build a very good reputation. At the end of the 60s he left for France where he joined another one of his brothers. It was a false start. Two years later, he was happy to return to his favorite hangouts in Dakar. But the return was temporary. In 1976 he set off again for France. The following year his brother Jean-Claude, Luis Silva and Emmanuel Lima asked him to join them in forming an exclusively Cape Verdean group. Created in Joinville in the Paris region, the Cabo Verde Show became the star group of the expatriate communities in Paris and Holland where they played regularly.
For Gerard Mendes this was a crucial period. Suddenly an irresistible urge began to grow in him. Until then his native music had not been a priority but he now felt the need to compose and write as a Cape Verdean. He contributed three original songs to the group's second album and they proved popular with the community. This success encouraged him to go further. Leaving the Cabo Verde Show, he and his brother launched a new project: Mendes and Mendes. Three albums later he put Paris behind him. Ten years in the gray north was enough. Missing the sea and sun, he moved to Nice in 1983.
Mendes formed a new group called O'asah, the name of a legendary bird. With O'asah he recorded an album and played as opening act at Joao Bosco's concerts in France. In 1990 Mendes recorded the hit song "Grito de Bo Fidje. He became Boy Gé Mendes, which is an allusion to his childhood nickname. After touring France and the United States Boy Gé Mendes decided to take a break. He traveled with his guitar to Brazil, the United States, Senegal and Cape Verde. In 1996, at the Baia des Galas festival, in Sao Vicente, the native island of his mother and girlfriend, he met up with Emmanuel Lima, who had now made his mark as Manu Lima, a key arranger and composer of African music. It was a fresh start. Boy Gé recorded the album "Di 0ro" with Manu, then chased off after yet another dream.
Discography:
Lagoa
(1997 Lusafrica 262522)
Noite de Morabeza (1999 Lusafrica 362122, 2001)
Boy Gé Mendes + Manu Lima - Di Oro 1996
Mendes e Mendes (Boy Gé & Jean Claude): Grito di bo Fidje (1981/2001)
Cesaria Evora
More than half of Cape Verdeans live far from the beautiful archipelago their ancestors once called home. The Portuguese discovered these ten Atlantic Ocean islands in 1460, populated them with Africans and Europeans, and governed harshly until 1975.
Three-hundred-and-fifty miles off the coast of Senegal, Cape Verde served as one of Africa's first slave ports, and became one of its last nations to achieve independence. All this helps to explain why the melancholy morna, an often minor-key song style tied to love, loss and sadness, best expresses the Cape Verdean national identity. And nobody sings a morna with more gusto than Cesaria Èvora.
Cesaria Èvora was born and lived most of her first fifty years on the island of Sào Vicente. Her violinist father died when she was just seven, and though she does not remember him, her grandmother has told her that she used to sit on his lap while he played. Surrounded by music, Èvora grew up singing with her friends in the suburbs of Mindelo. When she was 16, a boyfriend who played guitar convinced her that she had an exceptional voice and encouraged her to pursue music as a profession. Before long, Èvora recorded some songs for the national radio station, and began to build a reputation.
Those colonial times offered few options for musicians, but
Èvora developed a modest career performing in bars and restaurants, and
sometimes in the homes of wealthy Portuguese patrons. She idolized Mahalia
Jackson, Billie Holliday and Amalia Rodriguez, the greatest exponent of the
fado, and though she steers clear of making comparisons between the morna and
other forms, she does concede a certain spiritual connection with the blues
because it too was born of suffering.
Once Cape Verde achieved independence in 1975, many of the Portuguese
aristocracy who had been her lifeblood during colonial times fled the new
socialist government.
For the next ten years, Èvora barely sang. Then, in 1985, a Cape Verdean women's organization asked her to record two songs for a compilation CD. She went to Paris to record, and while there, played some concerts. Her abundant talent visible at last, Èvora quickly became Cape Verde's most celebrated singer. Her success in Europe was nothing short of phenomenal. She packed houses in Paris that other African divas could only dream of playing.
Èvora favors an elegant, acoustic backing
band-mostly plucked strings-and sings in a robust alto that lifts the weight of
hard experience with resolve and tenderness. In the early 90s, she produced two
highly influential recordings Mar Azul (1991) and Miss Perfumado (1992). The
latter in particular was widely considered a masterpiece and a model for all
recordings of the morna since. Èvora 's subsequent releases continue the
all-acoustic approach used on those landmark records, and she has been
nominated for Grammy awards four times.
Èvora performs with closed eyes and bare feet, which she calls part of
the "national costume" of Cape Verde.
She says that when she sings, memories play in her head transporting her to other times and places. Èvora's triumphs have not changed her much. When not performing, she still lives in Sào Vicente with her mother, and near her two children and grandchildren. Tough-minded and self-assured, Èvora proclaims a fondness for cigarettes and whiskey, shrugging off any notion that such habits might harm her voice. "I've had plenty of time to ruin my voice," she says. "And since it's not ruined yet, I'm going to continue."
Èvora's Grammy-nominated 1999 album, Café Atlantico, included invited musicians from other parts of the world, particularly Latin America. On her 2001 release, “São Vicente Di Longe,” she goes still further, including performances with Caetano Veloso, Bonnie Raitt, and Orquestra Aragon, among others.
Chando Graciosa
CVMusicWorld.com Thursday, February 24, 2005
Chando was born on August 17, 1965 in Sao Tome and Principe from Capeverdean parents who like many other of their countrymen fled the 1947 drought and famine that highly affected the Cape Verde Island. They had immigrated in order to live and work there on contract basis. However, just a few months after his birth, his parents took him back to Cape Verde to live on the island Santiago (Tarrafal) where he learned the tricks of funana, batuko, and finaçon.
Chando began his singing career at the age of fourteen during his first public appearance with the well-known band Abel Djassi. Abel Djassi and Chando performed in several countires, including in France, Holland and Dakar, Senegal, at the Coraduru festival .They also performed in Moscow at the International Youth festival in 1985, in Geneva, Sao Tome, and during a meeting of diplomatic organizations from Portuguese Speaking Countries in Luanda, Angola, at the hotel Presidente.
In 1990, they recorded their first album entitled "Cabeça em Movimento". Their appearances at the famous festivals of Baias das Gatas in Sao Vicente and the Lusofonia in Praia, Cape Verde, and Figueira da Voz, Portugal, confirmed their popularity. Soon after, however, Chando, a singer/composer who feels strongly about traditional musics, immigrated to Holland.
He then started a solo career, recording his first album “Nacia Gomi” in 1997. The following year he presented a second album “ Bitori nha Bibinha,” named also after this legendary musician Bitori nha Bibinha. He also collaborated with other artists, notably Tchota Suari, one of the best accordion players in Cape Verde. They released hits such as “Mosca Bitcho,” “Baca Brabu,” and “Grogu Nho Lela.”
Chando now releases his new album “Dor Di Mundo” in which he pays tribute to Ildo Lobo, Orlando Pantera, and B. Leza. Since he emerged as a musician, Chando was received with open arms by everyone. He has become one of the most talented young interpreters of funana.
Dany Silva, a singer of the world
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=1221 11/12/2004
Singer Dany Silva, who lives in Portugal, has a new album in the works - his fourth - which should be released in May 2005. On the new CD Silva, this week’s “Artist of the Week,” will be joined by Portuguese singer and songwriter Rui Veloso and Angola’s Cuca on production. The interview that follows was carried out immediately following the concert that took place on Sal on November 25 in memory of the late Ildo Lobo.
KAUNDA SIMAS
How would you define your new CD?
It follows the same lines as my previous works, and those who are familiar with me will see that there aren’t any great differences. Most of the songs are from Cape Verde, some of them are sung in Portuguese, with different rhythms, but all of them African. I’ve included two boleros and a semba.
Is this a strategy to conquer the Portuguese-speaking African market?
Yes, but that’s not all. I’ve been living in Portugal for many years and I have many friends who write lyrics in Portuguese for me to put to music, and this is a way of coming closer to people who don’t understand Crioulo. This way they can understand the lyrics, the message and the content. Some of these songs are Angolan, because I really like some of the boleros I learned from Rui Mingas, in the good old days when he still sang, and I also want to make an incursion into semba. But always slightly stylized, with those influences I have from other areas, and that I normally try to bring to our music, without losing the roots...
Many people are unaware of your facet as a blues singer. Are there any blues on this CD?
For those who listen to blues, there’s a morna in which they will note the melodic and harmonic influence of blues. I love blues, and in fact I began as a musician in the wave of rhythm and blues, soul music. There’s a group in Portugal with which I work regularly, and we often sing classic American blues and soul. A short while ago I performed at the Estoril casino, and afterwards I heard a recording made on mini-disc, which I put onto CD for some friends to hear. There’s a joke that my friend Antero (Simas) took it to the United States and showed it to people there, and they were surprised, because they weren’t aware of my incursions from time to time into blues... It’s something that’s inside of me.
Is there a clear thematic line in this CD, or not necessarily?
I let things roll, because when I write and compose I move through various different fields, from the sentimental, to the social, everyday themes... I’ll curve to the right, to the left, I’ll go straight ahead, such that it’s a rather heterogeneous record.
Another facet of yours that in this case is very well known is your penchant for veritable “hymns to partying.” Are there any on this album?
There are, because this thing about partying, about conviviality, is inside us, because there are always moments in which a funny story comes up that we try to transport to music so that others can share that moment and smile, so we aren’t left only with songs that make us think a lot.
You’ve established a partnership in this album’s musical production with Rui Veloso, a first-rate rock musician and like yourself a citizen of the world. With a combination like this, is it normal to expect something rather different from what Cape Verdeans are used to?
At the very least, they’ll find momentary passages with slightly different rhythms, like I said before. There will be moments where people will say: “what’s this?” But then I go back, I take turns onto other paths, but afterwards I come back to our style, albeit in my own manner.
This CD follows along the lines of my previous records, but there’s always something new, albeit within Cape Verdean music. People will feel the influence I have from Latin, mainly Cuban music. But only after the final work is done, when everything has been finished, with the solos and those cherries you put on top of the cake, will we know for sure. Often just a small, final touch will change or increase the charge of a song, make the rhythm more consistent, make it swing more.
I’m convinced this is a CD that’s different from the others. But it follows those lines that people who know me will expect. I don’t think I’m being pretentious, I’m a very versatile musician, such that the final result is always a mystery.
I know that nine of the songs on this album have your signature. Who wrote the other songs?
People who are already known, such as Baptista Dias, the author of “Cumpadre Martin,” which I recorded before, and Cuca, an Angolan who often writes for me. There are other songs I prefer not to mention, because they’re a surprise. There’s a song from a great Cape Verdean singer and composer people will identify immediately when they hear it.
To change the subject somewhat, what was it like to participate in the concert in honor of Ildo Lobo? Before the show you said it would be difficult to hold back the tears. How did things work out?
(The singer pauses for a moment, his eyes red, and appears to be making an effort not to cry.)
The first five minutes were a little hard, but after that I felt the support of an extraordinary audience. I felt people’s warmth and their desire to have a good time, among other things because a number of songs that provoked strong emotion in them had been sung, so the public was in need of more liveliness, and I was lucky. Even when I sang “Lua Nha Testemunha” with Rui Veloso, they were already in a lively mood. Everything came together for an extraordinary night. In the afternoon, during rehearsal, there was a strong wind, which stopped, the sky cleared up and the moon was full, the sound was good, the musicians were playing well, and everything fell into place. Only afterwards, when we left the stage, did that nostalgia come over us. But thankfully I was able to control myself on the stage and put my mind to the task at hand, albeit thinking about Ildo all the while. I managed to have a good time, because it was the right moment to have a good time.
You were close by when the audience arrived at Pedra de Lume, after walking eight kilometers from Espargos, and went straight to the sea to throw the flowers into the water in homage to Ildo. Everyone says it was the most beautiful moment of the evening.
At that moment, when I realized what was going to happen, I moved away, because I thought that afterwards I might not recover and be able to go on stage. At that moment I went to the dressing room and I didn’t want to be close to what was happening. And it was a good thing I did this, because they told me it was a moment with a very strong emotional charge, and I’m a coward with this kind of thing.
Going back to your new CD, does it already have a title?
No, we haven’t thought about that yet.
Were there any difficulties in the execution of this project?
There are always difficult moments. Record labels are acting very defensively because of piracy, because technology nowadays allows a person to make bootlegs at home. And when a record label invests in good production, this costs money, having good musicians, a good studio, promotion, and if sales don’t justify it, and this is what has been happening throughout the world, and in Portugal, which is a small country, you notice it. It was hard, there were a number of setbacks, but I see that up to a certain point, there’s always a reason for things, and God willing we’ll find a way to combat piracy urgently, at least in order to reduce losses so things can go back to normal. There are a lot of new values out there to be recorded, and they’re suffering with this. Sometimes they resort to producing their own music, but because of economic issues, they end up resenting their choice, because they aren’t able to pay for a good studio, promotion... In short, a lot of people end up jeopardized because of this.
What is your creative process like?
A song made by pure inspiration happens only once every ten years. With me, I get an idea, sometimes unintentionally, and that’s the part that’s inspiration. After that comes perspiration: spending a week, a month, sometimes even more, starting over, remaking the song from beginning to end. Maybe there are people who work with inspiration alone, but this isn’t my case, there’s lots of perspiration.
Of course Cape Verde’s music is one of its strongest export products. But we’re always left with the impression that this wealth hasn’t been taken advantage of as much as it should be. What is necessary for us to maximize quality in relation to the quantity of new musicians in Cape Verde?
The main need is for music schools, and musical education even in regular school, beginning in the first grade. There are other things as well. As far as I know, there are no musical instrument shops where one can buy guitar strings. This is something that some section connected to culture could encourage... I have friends who regularly call Portugal to ask me for guitar strings. It’s something I don’t understand, how in a land of musicians you can’t find guitar strings. But there are good things too. Fortunately, studios have begun to appear, which may not be high quality, but it is a step forward, as people no longer have to go to Holland or the United States to record. But schools are fundamental.
To wrap this interview up, what can we expect from this record? Not just from the melodic and rhythmic point of view, but the lyrical as well.
You can’t expect a very intellectual record, because I’m not intellectual. But there are songs, like I said a short while ago, that discuss various different things, and above all, there’s that morna that I spoke of that is reminiscent of blues. This morna, which I wrote three years ago, is about a brother of mine who died of a grave illness... I showed it to some friends and they told me it had a very strong emotional force. I even thought about singing it on Sal, in homage to my friend Ildo Lobo. I’ts a song I also dedicate to all of my loved ones who have died, my father, Ildo, my cousin Jorge Oredja, who have disappeared. This morna is very important to me. I didn’t sing it here, because I thought, “I won’t be able to handle it.” A friend of mine, Manduca, heard it once in Portugal and said, “Dany, are you going to be able to sing this morna?” And I answered that if I weren’t able to sing it, I’d give it to Ildo Lobo to sing. I think it’s going to be a morna with which all if us who’ve ever lost a loved one will identify. I think it’s the song that will be the trademark of this record.
What’s this morna called?
It’s called “Caminhu longi. (In memoriam).”
Denis Graça
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=70 15.12.2003
Denis Graça is currently in Cape Verde for a mini-tour this month through the islands of Sal, São Vicente, Santiago and Fogo. The series of concerts will serve to promote his Christmas single “Tud t’passa,” a remix of the ninth track on his debut CD Sonhos. Find out everything about this young singer considered by many young women the most handsome and sexiest artist of the moment, in this interview with A Semana Online.
What projects do you have for the future?
I’m working hard so that my second CD will come out
in the summer of 2004.
What are your professional goals?
I would really like one day to be able to live well just
from music, and take maximum advantage of my abilities
in order to give my best to the public, because someone
who buys a CD deserves quality.
And on a personal level?
Be a good father (and husband some day).
What irritates you?
People who talk just to talk.
What value does love have for you?
Giving and receiving love is what makes us feel human.
For this reason, love is very important.
What kind of care do you usually take with your image?
In music you can’t afford to have enemies, this can be
very bad for our image. Getting along with everybody is
the way I do things.
Do you consider yourself sexy?
I’ll let the women decide that.
What do you criticize most in today’s society?
It makes me sad to know there are thousands of people
dying of hunger and because of war every day.
What makes you feel best in life?
Being with my family, especially my son. And, of course,
music.
Are you happy?
Very.
Your sign?
Aquarius.
Favorite clothes?
Jeans.
Favorite food?
Rice with tuna and cachupa.
Your favorite book/writer?
I don’t read much...
Movie/actor?
My favorite movie is “Malcolm X.” My favorite actor is
Denzel Washington.
Record/singer?
All of R. Kelly’s CDs, Joe, Michael Jackson, Sara Tavares.
Styles of music?
I like all types of music. But what I really love is our music.
Favorite duet?
My favorite duet is “Endless Love.”
Composer?
R. Kelly, Orlando Pantera, Paulino Vieira, Michael Jackson,
Boyz to Men.
Philosophy (phrase or saying)?
You and I may be different but this is no reason to fight.
Do you believe in God?
Yes.
Fears?
Fear of losing those I like most in the world.
Dream?
To have three children and live happy for all my life.
Favorite place for vacation?
America, Cape Verde and Brazil.
Who would you take to a deserted island?
My son and his mother.
Who would you leave there?
No one.
What can never run out in your kitchen?
“Sultana” crackers.
Date and place of birth?
February 5, 1980, in São Vicente, Cape Verde.
Three things that are socially incorrect for you?
Saying negative things about someone you don’t know.
Envy
Racism
What is your greatest defect? And quality?
Defect: getting an idea and putting it into practice without
thinking.
Quality: always giving 100% in what I believe in.
What’s the greatest praise anyone has even given you?
They told me I was one of Cape Verde’s best singers
(within my style of music).
If you had to be an animal, which one would you
choose and why?
I’d like to be a bird so I could fly far away, where everything
is pure and good.
What’s your favorite animal?
Dog.
Djédjé (Jose Fernandes)
“Dramas” testifies Djédjé’s legend By Hermino Furtado cvmusicworld.com Editor
“Dramas”, the latest musical release featuring Jose Fernandes, more widely
known as Djédjé (Jaysta Man), confirms the legend of the artist as a philosopher and poet. His rhymes are in harmony with rhythms inspired from Zouk and embellished with Hip Pop melodies, a fine contribution of Klaudio Ramos, a musician that has distinguished himself in the music community. The lyrics tell the lessons learned in life by the artist from delusive relationships and friendships as well as from relations with producers and competitors. Most interestingly, the lyrics touch on the philosophical issue of the Cape Verdean identity, where the artist defends passionately our African heritage.
Track 2 (Dramas) is the summary of the whole album. The artist displays his frustration caused by bickering and gossiping directed to him because of his high musical profile. He is, after all, successful in carrying on a normal life. Weed is not relief from his frustration, but music is his comfort. In track #8 (Padja), he imagines how smoking could have destroyed his career and destabilized his life. In “Ka Bu Kunfia” (track 9, Dilema) he advises the youth never to smoke weed. No doubt, Djay’s talent is natural, and he intends to keep it that way. Unfortunately, many among our youth have failed to recognize the thin line between good and bad repercussions of smoking.
“Dramas” shows Djédjé’s strong base in the world of Creole rap music. The artist has no doubt he is the icon of CV rap and he express that in track 3 (Mas Ki Mi) where the artist says none else raps like him. The track talks about the disappearance of many rappers, who having accordingly even plagiarized Djedje’s work still failed to succeed in the business. For critics, this track represents the animosity existent in the rap market, a trend stemming from the Hip Pop world also depicted in track 5 (SuperStrela) and 10 (Ha Ha), which comes much harder on competitors and producers.
In track 5 Djédjé talks about the broken musical relation between himself and Stacey Soares, who collaborated in “Ka Bu Kunfia”. Here Djédjé raps “I had a chic getting prop singing chorus on my shit, shit was what she dropped because she blamed the lead singer”. In track 10, Chandinho Dog continues to swallow Djédjé’s critical rhymes, and lately his brother Doguinho, whose first album was released right before “Dramas”, is getting it too. In this track Djédjé says “qualquer di nhos qui pensa na compite, nhos bem di dos”. Produced and arranged by Klaudio Ramos, this is the favorite track of most people.
“Dramas” reveals the artist’s skepticism on love affairs, a sentiment provoked by previous betrayals that somehow deeply disillusioned the artist in that matter. He expresses that mistrust in his previous work entitled “ka bu kunfia” (“Don’t trust”), where Djédjé unveils the misleading games of shorties who under the camouflage of church girls play with brother’s most cherished feelings. He is trustless of a wave of girls that invade his bedroom since he walked on stage; in track # 11 (Rude Boys) he raps “girls who ignored me now say I am the best”.
In track 4 (ilusão) he says, “I have treated a woman better than a mermaid” and that may have been a major disappointment. Now he is a realist, not a romantic. In track 6 (Apaixonada) he raps about a romantic relationship he had in which the rules of love were violated, leaving sour memories of sorrow and fear of falling victim of love. In track 7 (Mentiras) he declares his player status: “I wanna go sexually, not sentimentally”.
“Dramas” also safeguards the African identity in the CV community. Djédje is a super black star, symbol of CV liberation from colonialism. Along with him, Tem Blessed, a CV born in Guinea Bissau, reinforces the black vibration in the midst of the CV youth that too often ignores their true roots. Throughout the album Djédjé reassures his Africanism both physically and spiritually. In track 2 (Dramas) he says, “I am that badiu (black Cape Verdean) that your race wanna kill”.
Isn’t it in track 12 where Djédjé
appeals to the CV people not to forget what happened in the recent past and to
stop the acculturation? In track 5 of Ka Bu Kunfia (Inteligencia), he and
Blessed rap what is an anthem of CV youth who immigrated from the modest
neighborhoods in CV to America, reminding them that “intelligence will
overcome, for poverty won’t harm” (inteligencia qui ta vence, pamo
pobreza ka duense). In that same track he reiterates his badiu status for life.
These themes were well articulated under hot melodies in Drama, which is a
compilation of scriptures by a prophet whose vow is to save the CV people from
idolization. His powerful voice reveals his frustration with those who have
betrayed the CV identity as the artist keeps it real. Critics may allege that
his scripts are too egocentric and pejorative to women; but as an artist he is
obliged to sing the world as he sees and feels. “Dramas” comes to
prove the artist legacy in creole rap. We hope the artist continues to fulfill
our expectations with works like “Dramas” that feeds the hungry
minds of the CV youth for cultural enrichment.
Djosinha
A trajectory marked by 18 records and a great number of shows on stages of all the continents.
A legendary singer, ex-soccer player, and a "man of the sea", Djosinha conjugates music and the production and presentation of a radio program -- "Camin pa Cabo Verde" -- created 23 years ago.
Born and raised in Alto de Sao Nicolau, in Sao Vicente, Djosinha started to appear on stage when he was 7 years old.
Olavo Bilac, another personality of the Capeverdean music, was his mentor.
He started moving in Mindelo's musical circle at a time when the Capeverdean market was flooded by the Brazilian music. It was "Radio Pedro Afonso", a broadcasting station from his native island that made him popular in a contest presented by Evandro (deceased) and Mario Matos.
In 1967 he was invited to join “Voz de Cabo Verde", the first great Capeverdean band that showed the rhythm of the islands to the world and performed with great ability in showrooms in ballrooms rhythms such as "Cumbia, Salsa, Samba" among others.
Djosinha - A question of feeling
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=12612 15.10.2005
This short interview was carried out between rehearsals in the São Vicente Music School leading up to this year’s Baía das Gatas festival. Djosinha spoke to A Semana Online about his upcoming projects and gives readers a peek at his great passion in life, music.
You’re one of the biggest names in Cape Verdean song, considering all of the hits you’ve had. How do you select the songs that will be included in your greatest hits album, which, according to information we’ve gathered, will be your next CD?
The songs I chose were present at major moments in my career, considering that they come out of me very easily. They are those songs that wherever I go people ask me to sing, because when I do, I feel them in such a way that I manage to pull all of their meaning from them. This is why this album, which I’ve already begun recording, includes songs such as the sad sambas “Se o Meu Coração Falasse” and “Negue” and others by Cape Verdean composers that I’ve been singing over the years. Deep down, these are songs I can give all of my vocal, mental and corporal expression to. And this kind of giving of one’s self is lacking in Cape Verde.
Do you think that today’s Cape Verdean singers lack soul?
At least in some cases, there’s no expression. I know that what I’m saying could cause controversy, but there are colleagues of mine who sing just to sing, and don’t respect the true essence of the melody or the lyrics. Because in music, like in other arts, the feeling has to come from inside, because it’s something very deep. Music cannot be subverted or made banal. For example, when I sing something romantic I often leave the stage, go up to women at the table and dedicate these melodies to them. It’s really a question of feeling.
So you’re a seducer.
Well, yes, that’s the problem (laughs).
In your live performances, we normally witness a “hurricane Djosinha.” Is this the expression you’re talking about?
I think so. It’s something that comes out, because music has to have soul, or else it has no meaning. For example, there were times when, during a performance, I’d go so far as to rip my shirt because all the intensity of the music had entered me. Another thing I really like and that makes me emotional are negro spirituals, because they really have a lot of strength.
You have criticized a number of current singers, but overall, what is your opinion of today’s musical panorama in Cape Verde?
I am somewhat optimistic. Because there was a time when young people weren’t interested in the traditional, and as a result rhythms such as morna and coladeira almost disappeared. But this trend is changing, with young people increasingly accepting the typical sounds of Cape Verde. I think that this turnaround took place thanks to artists like Ildo Lobo and Cesária Évora, who lent value to these traditions again. And that’s why, in addition to what they were and are, these musicians are immortal.
So you think we’re on the right path.
Yes, I think that right now there is a chance for new sounds to emerge.
In addition to this “revival” of Voz de Cabo Verde and your own new record, how is musical career going?
Essentially, I travel several times a year within the United States of America, where I live. And always with Cape Verdean music in my repertoire, of course. Just recently I was with Maria de Barros in Los Angeles, and when I got home, I left again for another concert in Rhode Island.
You’ve got a full agenda of concerts...
In the United States there really are great opportunities. They exist in Cape Verde as well, but on a different scale. Actually, I always come back here to São Vicente six or seven times a year.
These opportunities, when you get down to it, are really recognition of your work throughout all these years. How do you deal with your situation as a “living legend” that people often attribute to the members of Voz de Cabo Verde.
All of the respect that we have here in Cape Verde and around the world was earned because we have always respected the public. I sing for the public, I dance for the public, I give it my soul as an artist. I remember once when I accompanied the great Portuguese singer Toni de Matos on a tour from the north to the south of Portugal. I was about to play for the first time in the Estoril Casino, a large concert hall, and I was nervous. Toni de Matos noticed this, came up to me and told me to relax, because just as I lived off the audience, the public lived off me. After he said this, he slapped me on the back. This was a very important incident for me, because it really showed me that deep down the relationship that is created with the audience is based on respect, above all else.
Djudju Tavares wins Senna Barcelos Award
http://www.asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=15392 28-01-06
The Portuguese Cultural Center and the Association of Cape Verdean Writers bestowed the Senna Barcelos Award upon Manuel de Jesus Tavares yesterday, January 27. The prize-winning essay, “Aspectos evolutivos da música cabo-verdiana” (“Evolutionary aspects of Cape Verdean music”), will now be published in book form, and is expected to be available for purchase in March of this year.
The jury decided to attribute the Sena Barcelos Award, which is an initiative of the Portuguese Cultural Center in partnership with the Association of Cape Verdean Writers, to researcher Djudju Tavares, the author of “Aspectos evolutivos da música cabo-verdiana.” The work, which according to the researcher “outlines the evolution of Cape Verdean music,” will be published in book form and go on sale in approximately two months’ time.
In the author’s words, “this award is recognition of the long investigation the study required,” while at the same time constituting an “incentive to investigations carried out in Cape Verde.”
This is, indeed, the reason for the existence of the Senna Barcelos Award. As João Neves, the cultural attaché at the Portuguese Embassy in Praia, explains, “this award is intended, more than anything else, to encourage monographic investigations carried out in the country.” Neves also guarantees that “in addition to the Portuguese Cultural Center paying for the publishing of the book, it will also pay copyrights to the author, which is not a very common practice in Cape Verde.”
Meanwhile, the second edition of the Senna Barcelos Award is already under way. Contestants may submit their essays to the Portuguese Cultural Center by June 30, 2006.
Dudu Araújo and the music of Cape Verde
The lover whose
passion is not cooled by distance
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=284 28/02/2004
With a career spanning more than twenty years and four albums, Dudu
Araújo is without a doubt one of the most amazing voices in contemporary
Cape Verdeam music. A former member of Jovens Unidos, Os Gaiatos, and Kings,
among other groups from São Vicente, where he was born, Eduino Teixeira
Araújo today lives in Canada. The North American country keeps him far
from his people, but not far enough to quench his thirst for singing genuine
Cape Verdean music. Pidrinha, his first record to be released on CD, is proof
of this.
On a short visit to Cape Verde, where he performed at the 2004 Nós
Músca awards and is preparing his next CD, as well as a tour that will
begin in April, Dudu Araújo spoke with A Semana Online about his musical
awakening, the groups he has been a part of, his solo career, Cape
Verde’s current musical scene, his projects and dreams, and life in the
city of Toronto, home to a tiny Cape Verdean community.
Interviewed by Teresa Sofia Fortes
You organized your first group while you were still a teenager. How did this
occur?
We began as a joke, with tin can instruments. Tito Paris’ father, who was
an émigré, later brought us some electric instruments from
abroad. It was in Tito’s house that we started our band, which we called
“Jovens Unidos,” together with his brother Toi, Voginha and Bau.
What kind of band was it?
At the time we played all styles of music, and we’d participate in
cultural gatherings. It was in the period following the April 25 Portuguese
revolution [which was followed by Cape Verde’s independence], and we
would play at political rallies. We’d often open for the Kings. And
that’s how we learned and developed.
But
your contact with music began earlier, isn’t that right?
It took place spontaneously. Tito Paris had a guitar and together with other
colleagues who aren’t connected to music anymore we would sing songs, but
without any other instruments. There was also the group “Chave
d’Fenda,” which would rehearse near my home, more specifically in Jorge
Lopes’ house, and I’d always go over there. And that’s how I
started singing and getting to know more about music.
Had you already seriously thought
about embarking on a musical career at that time?
I think that when we’re young, we all dream of having a career in a particular
area. But given the living conditions, which at the time were much harder here
in Cape Verde, I began to regard music as a form of entertainment until the day
I discovered it was music that I wanted. I can’t say that I wanted to
embark on a music career since I was a child because at the time our parents
educated us in a way so as not to consider music as a potential profession, and
they would encourage us to study in order to enter some other job area, to get
a degree...
After “Jovens Unidos,” did you take part in other groups?
Yes, after “Jovens Unidos,” things moved ahead. When “Jovens
Unidos” no longer existed, I formed the group “Os Gaiatos”
together with some other people my age. But then I left “Os
Gaiatos,” Voginha joined Wings, and Tito Paris was invited to Lisbon by
Bana. So I went and joined the Kings.
What was it like to make music at that time, when there were various different
groups in São Vicente?
Yes, there really were a lot of groups in São Vicente, a lot more than
today. We all depended on dances to play at because at the time there were no
dance clubs or concert halls. Concerts would only take place every so often.
And was recording a record even harder?
It was very hard. When I joined the Kings, the group had already recorded two
records. And with me we recorded one more, called Nôs Tradiçon.
But it really was very rare and difficult to record. Only very well organized
groups, which was the Kings’ case, could have the luxury to go on tour in
Europe and record albums.
Then you left Cape Verde...
Right,
I left for the first time in 1982, with the Kings, to participate in the Avante
festival on the invitation of the Portuguese Communist Party. It was very good,
very interesting, and in fact the Avante festival is considered one of
Portugal’s best festivals. And on that occasion I was able to meet major
international artists like Miriam Makeba, Manu Dibango...
When did you record your first solo LP?
Soon after that. When I came back from Portugal I formed another group with
Nhone Lime, Tey Santos, Adriano and Bau called “Grito de Mindelo,”
which was rather successful but which was limited to the island of São
Vicente and a little to the rest of Cape Verde. But then I was invited by Bana
to go to Portugal, and that was where I did my first record, the LP Nha
Visão, which has a very well-known track, “Apocalispe.” It
was a great experience, but difficult, of course, because things weren’t
going very for Bana in terms of the management of groups. But it was good
because the record, considering the difficulties we came up against to record
it, has an interesting repertory and a pleasant sound.
And
what followed Nha Visão?
I stayed in Portugal for three or
four years, singing in Bana’s nightclub. It wasn’t a very pleasant
phase in my career, when I switched night and day because I would sing every
night in the club. It was a monotonous life that after I while ended up tiring
me as much as or more than if I had been a construction worker, for example,
even though it was something I liked to do, which is singing. That’s why
I returned to Cape Verde. At the time Bau formed a group, which was more or
less similar to what he does today, and I joined it. We went through a good
phase until I was invited to go to Holland to record a second record, Nha
Punotcha, which was produced by Djôda Silva, who today is Cesária
Évora’s manager. Manu Lime of Cabo Verde Show orchestrated it - in
fact, Cabo Verde Show was the group that played the songs. And it was successful,
particularly the song “Nha Punotcha,” which was a big hit at the
time.
But eventually you decided to live outside of Cape Verde more definitively...
Well, after I came back from Holland I was invited to sing in the United
States, in 1989. And since almost all my family was already living in nearby
Canada, they convinced me to stay there. I lived for three years in the United
States, where I was a part of the Djam Band, which was headed by Biús,
Djim Job, Calú Monteiro, and Rui. It was great. In 1991 I moved to
Canada.
And have you managed to make music your career?
Right now I don’t live from music, I have another profession. But it
really is hard, especially in Cape Verde, to live from music. You really have
to have a lot of will power and, above all, space. Today, compared to the time
when I began, there are tons of places to make music. And as long as it’s
quality music, an artist can get a hundred people into a hall to hear him. Now,
if you don’t make quality music, if you’re not interested in evolving
constantly, if you don’t practice to perfect your talent, if you’re
not professional and punctual, which doesn’t exist here in Cape Verde,
you can’t live from music. If you don’t give the best of yourself
to the public, you can’t become a professional musician.
And in Canada do you get many opportunities to make music?
No.
You know, in Canada there are practically no Cape Verdeans. There are more or
less two hundred of us living in Toronto, and as far as musicians there’s
just me and one other guy, who’s in Antwerp right now. There’s no
way to form a band. I mean, I can get together with musicians of other
nationalities, but the music will certainly not have that Cape Verdean essence.
A Canadian or a Brazilian won’t know how to play a morna or a coladeira
the way I feel it. They’d end up going into another style of music
that’s not Cape Verdean, and I don’t want that. I like genuine Cape
Verdean music.
And when you feel like hearing this genuinely Cape Verdean music, do you hop over to the United States, which is right next door?
Yes,
in the United States I meet a lot of people who know how to make Cape Verdean
music.
And have you traveled to do concerts a lot?
I could travel much more, but it doesn’t depend only on me. I have a contract with Rosário Brothers and I have to respect it. But there’s no lack of invitations, there are a lot of people who call me and request my presence at parties, concerts. And as they say, you don’t pocket everything, I’ve limited my number of concerts, because I have a defined strategy to achieve a specific objective.
You
recorded three LPs. When and how did you enter the CD era?
Pidrinha is my first CD. For me it was a spectacular record thanks to its repertoire, sound, the group of musicians and composers, who were chosen rigorously, and for the quality of its poetry...
Who are these composers?
Manuel D’Novas, Paulino Vieira, Teófilo Chantre, Gabriel Mariano and Jorge Humberto are a few of them, people who make quality poetry. As far as musicians I would highlight Vlú, a man of great talent. That’s why Pidrinha is a special record, because we had a lot of songs but we didn’t just take them and stick them on the record any which way. We sat down and analyzed them one by one. That meant a lot of work. We worked hard for nine months to produce this record.
Do
you feel that there is a lack of quality in current Cape Verdean poetry?
Yes, there is a lack of quality. The problem is that most of the songs that are made nowadays, I’d say 85 or even 90 percent, are songs to be played at dance clubs. And, of course, when people listen to this type of music they don’t pay attention to the lyrics, they’re concerned with dancing, they don’t care what the music says. But I worry about this. When my record came out, someone came to congratulate me because, she said, there was a great deal of monotony in the musical scene because the radio only plays songs that in most cases just say, “my love, my baby,” the same blah blah. That’s why I say that the poetry is very poor.
And
who would you include in the quality ten percent?
Cesária
Évora, Teófilo Chantre, Jack Monteiro, Bau, who make records that
don’t go out of style and that help us relieve stress. As far as the
music in fashion is concerned, as the name indicates, today it’s played
in all the dance clubs, but tomorrow, when a new one appears, everyone forgets
it.
But it’s within this scene that Cape Verde’s music is obtaining international exposure. Cesária Évora and Suzanna Lubrano, who recently one a Grammy and a Kora award respectively, are the most recent evidence. What do you think of this? Is quality Cape Verdean music winning the war or not?
Of course it’s quality music. And the Grammy Cesária Évora won is proof of this, because it’s not just anybody who wins this award. And she won the award because the music she makes is different, it’s a style of music that identifies the Cape Verdean people. It’s not a rhythm that’s played in other parts of the world.
And
what about the award won by Suzanna Lubrano?
Well, I’d never heard of the award, I don’t know how it’s given. But of course it makes me happy, because it’s one more Cape Verdean artist winning a prize and I congratulate her for it. But I can’t say because I don’t know how the award is attributed.
Suzanna Lubrano was elected best West African artist by the Kora Awards jury. The second prize - best African artist - was voted by the public.
That’s right, the public is very important, it’s 95% of an artist. Giving our music to the people is very hard. It has to be a very good piece of work for them to accept it. If not, they put it aside.
Continuing in the same vein, on Friday the first Nôs Músca awards were given, and during the ceremony you performed for the São Vicente public. What do you think of this event?
It’s a great initiative. I’m not in the loop on the subject enough to comment on the criteria for the nomination and attribution of the awards, why some artists were nominated and others weren’t - in fact, I’ve heard commentaries from people who found it strange that some very prominent artists weren’t nominated - so I can’t say anything more on the subject. But I hope that it can be consolidated and get better with every edition.
And how is your career going? Is it true that you’re preparing a new record?
Yes,
I’m working on the release of a new record. But at the moment I’m
more involved in organizing a European tour. In fact that’s the reason
I’m here in Cape Verde, to define everything along with Bau and the rest
of the band. And I’m also preparing my next record with them. We’ve
already selected a number of songs that are in the preparatory phase.
It’s a record that will follow the same line as Pidrinha, that is,
it’ll be made with calm, based on a rigorous selection of its repertoire.
But at the moment my priority is the tour, which will be in mid-April.
Are you preparing this tour with a spirit of concern for the public, looking to present yourself and the musicians in the most professional way possible, with good lighting, scenery, etc?
Of course, this has always been one of my concerns. In every group I’ve been a part of I’ve demonstrated this concern. I’ve seen concerts here in Cape Verde where there wasn’t adequate lighting to show the musicians who were on the stage. This is inconceivable, just as it’s inconceivable to have a stage that’s not level. People don’t give this attention and musicians are also partly to blame, because they don’t demand better working conditions.
But can’t a very elaborate lighting or stage conception overshadow talent, or, on the other hand, hide the lack of it?
Yes, it can happen. Every artist has his own manner of being on the stage. Some are more dancers than they are singers. Others don’t have a great voice but manage to transmit a strong message to the public, and there are others still who don’t being the public to their feet but manage to captivate people’s attention because they have a special way of singing, almost as if they were reciting the poetry they’re singing.
You sing and have your everyday
profession. What do you do in your free time there in Canada?
Well, excluding winter, which is pretty harsh and no one likes because it almost forces you to hibernate at home - during winter, it’s work/home, home/work - I like living there. In Spring and Summer, in my free time I like to play tennis and practice other sports, to be with my daughter Stephanie, who’s five, to listen to music.
Considering that the Cape Verdean community in Canada is rather small, what do you miss about Cape Verde?
I miss the climate, which is very important. I also miss the music, and I can’t explain the immensity of the lack I feel. I sing at home, I get together with Brazilian friends and musicians and sing Brazilian music, which I also really enjoy. But getting up on stage to sing is rare. In addition, the distance between Canada and Cape Verde is enormous. Only when I arrive here in Cape Verde do I really feel how far away Canada is. Even though there’s the Internet and the telephone, which allow me to get information about Cape Verde, I feel very distant. Because I miss the friends, I miss the contact I have with people here. I speak Crioulo at home and with the few Cape Verdeans there, but I miss everything, a sunrise and a sunset, a rooster crowing in the morning... Only when I come here and re-live these things do I notice how far I am from here. And when I’m here I don’t want to go back, but I have to.
And how do you smother this nostalgia? With food, music, literature?
Yes, especially with food, even though the products you buy there don’t have exactly the same flavor.
Dudu Araújo: Biography:
Eduino Teixeira “Dudu” Araujo was born September 5, 1961. He is the owner of a powerful and beautiful voice. Dudu Araujo is a gifted artist with an extraordinary vocation to interpret different genres of Cape Verdean music. He specializes in morna and coladera, two of the genres that symbolize the Cape Verdean culture. Native of Sao Vicente, an island where he grew up, Dudu belongs to a group of Mindelo artists who embrace music with passion, a strength that has permitted him to overcome several barriers throughout his career. Dudu was attracted by the singing, especially when his childhood friends used to dream of becoming great guitarists.
At the age of nine Dudu started his relationship with music. Contrary to his colleagues, the guitar, the piano and tile drumming did not fascinate him as much as the microphone. "I was amongst children who would make their instruments out of cans", he says. Dudu Araujos' first musical group was made up of homemade instruments. The microphone" for example was a juice can with a string attached to it, giving the appearance of a cord. The speakers were beer cases standing up. Guitars were made out of wood, with cords of fishing thread. Butter cans became the drums. “It is easy to imagine what type of sound could be extrapolated from all this." Dudu's, first true microphone was offered to him by a former member of the group Chave d'Fendas. It did not work, of course, but yet it would serve as the only true instrument amongst other "can instruments.
Orphaned at the age of 6, Dudu Araujo spent his childhood grieving on the island of San Vicente. Out of all his brothers, he was the only one living with his mother, therefore most of his time was spent between his studies and home chores. "The struggle for life was fierce," he admits. During his adolescence, Dudu had the luck to organize his first band called "Jovens Unidos", along with Tito Paris, Toi Paris, Voginha and Bau - other great instrumentalists who have emerged to maintain respectable careers in the Cape Verdean music industry. Trained by Ti Goi, one of the great mentors of the Cape Verdean culture, the group finally conquered a place under the sun, in Sao Vicente. "Essentially we played music of the occasion such as those of Roberta Carlos, Nilton Ceasar and other artists being played on the radio.
"The band had some success and performed mostly in Cape Verde. From this experience, Dudu went on to lead other good bands such as "0s Gaiados" and perhaps the most famous the King's band in which most of his recognition came from. A fan base was formed. Dudu went on to travel the world and had a great time meeting powerhouse musicians such as Miriam Makeba, Manu Dibango and many others. Throughout his career, spanning approximately twenty years Dudu only recorded three LP's. From his own words "Seriously speaking, this CD is the first artistic production that I am experiencing which is really mine. Thanks to RB Records, and prior to this opportunity I never had so much space and time to manage and work without the hurries of marketing the product. The dream of launching an acoustic production, with the orchestration of an instrumentalist with the sensitivity of Bau, becomes a reality with this compact disk that the reader holds. CD to be out soon".
Discography:
Nha Visao (RB Records)
Nos Tradison (RB Records)
Nha Punotxa (RB Records)
Pidrinha (RB Records 2001)
Dudu Araújo and the music of Cape Verde
The lover whose
passion is not cooled by distance
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=284 28/02/2004
With a career spanning more than twenty years and four albums, Dudu
Araújo is without a doubt one of the most amazing voices in contemporary
Cape Verdeam music. A former member of Jovens Unidos, Os Gaiatos, and Kings,
among other groups from São Vicente, where he was born, Eduino Teixeira
Araújo today lives in Canada. The North American country keeps him far
from his people, but not far enough to quench his thirst for singing genuine Cape
Verdean music. Pidrinha, his first record to be released on CD, is proof of
this.
On a short visit to Cape Verde, where he performed at the 2004 Nós
Músca awards and is preparing his next CD, as well as a tour that will
begin in April, Dudu Araújo spoke with A Semana Online about his musical
awakening, the groups he has been a part of, his solo career, Cape
Verde’s current musical scene, his projects and dreams, and life in the
city of Toronto, home to a tiny Cape Verdean community.
Interviewed by Teresa Sofia Fortes
You organized your first group while you were still a teenager. How did this
occur?
We began as a joke, with tin can instruments. Tito Paris’ father, who was
an émigré, later brought us some electric instruments from
abroad. It was in Tito’s house that we started our band, which we called
“Jovens Unidos,” together with his brother Toi, Voginha and Bau.
What kind of band was it?
At the time we played all styles of music, and we’d participate in
cultural gatherings. It was in the period following the April 25 Portuguese
revolution [which was followed by Cape Verde’s independence], and we
would play at political rallies. We’d often open for the Kings. And
that’s how we learned and developed.
But
your contact with music began earlier, isn’t that right?
It took place spontaneously. Tito Paris had a guitar and together with other
colleagues who aren’t connected to music anymore we would sing songs, but
without any other instruments. There was also the group “Chave
d’Fenda,” which would rehearse near my home, more specifically in
Jorge Lopes’ house, and I’d always go over there. And that’s
how I started singing and getting to know more about music.
Had you already seriously thought
about embarking on a musical career at that time?
I think that when we’re young, we all dream of having a career in a
particular area. But given the living conditions, which at the time were much
harder here in Cape Verde, I began to regard music as a form of entertainment
until the day I discovered it was music that I wanted. I can’t say that I
wanted to embark on a music career since I was a child because at the time our
parents educated us in a way so as not to consider music as a potential
profession, and they would encourage us to study in order to enter some other job
area, to get a degree...
After “Jovens Unidos,” did you take part in other groups?
Yes, after “Jovens Unidos,” things moved ahead. When “Jovens
Unidos” no longer existed, I formed the group “Os Gaiatos”
together with some other people my age. But then I left “Os
Gaiatos,” Voginha joined Wings, and Tito Paris was invited to Lisbon by
Bana. So I went and joined the Kings.
What was it like to make music at that time, when there were various different
groups in São Vicente?
Yes, there really were a lot of groups in São Vicente, a lot more than
today. We all depended on dances to play at because at the time there were no
dance clubs or concert halls. Concerts would only take place every so often.
And was recording a record even harder?
It was very hard. When I joined the Kings, the group had already recorded two
records. And with me we recorded one more, called Nôs Tradiçon.
But it really was very rare and difficult to record. Only very well organized
groups, which was the Kings’ case, could have the luxury to go on tour in
Europe and record albums.
Then you left Cape Verde...
Right,
I left for the first time in 1982, with the Kings, to participate in the Avante
festival on the invitation of the Portuguese Communist Party. It was very good,
very interesting, and in fact the Avante festival is considered one of
Portugal’s best festivals. And on that occasion I was able to meet major
international artists like Miriam Makeba, Manu Dibango...
When did you record your first solo LP?
Soon after that. When I came back from Portugal I formed another group with
Nhone Lime, Tey Santos, Adriano and Bau called “Grito de Mindelo,”
which was rather successful but which was limited to the island of São
Vicente and a little to the rest of Cape Verde. But then I was invited by Bana
to go to Portugal, and that was where I did my first record, the LP Nha
Visão, which has a very well-known track, “Apocalispe.” It
was a great experience, but difficult, of course, because things weren’t
going very for Bana in terms of the management of groups. But it was good
because the record, considering the difficulties we came up against to record
it, has an interesting repertory and a pleasant sound.
And
what followed Nha Visão?
I stayed in Portugal for three or
four years, singing in Bana’s nightclub. It wasn’t a very pleasant
phase in my career, when I switched night and day because I would sing every
night in the club. It was a monotonous life that after I while ended up tiring
me as much as or more than if I had been a construction worker, for example,
even though it was something I liked to do, which is singing. That’s why
I returned to Cape Verde. At the time Bau formed a group, which was more or
less similar to what he does today, and I joined it. We went through a good
phase until I was invited to go to Holland to record a second record, Nha
Punotcha, which was produced by Djôda Silva, who today is Cesária
Évora’s manager. Manu Lime of Cabo Verde Show orchestrated it - in
fact, Cabo Verde Show was the group that played the songs. And it was
successful, particularly the song “Nha Punotcha,” which was a big
hit at the time.
But eventually you decided to live outside of Cape Verde more definitively...
Well, after I came back from Holland I was invited to sing in the United
States, in 1989. And since almost all my family was already living in nearby
Canada, they convinced me to stay there. I lived for three years in the United
States, where I was a part of the Djam Band, which was headed by Biús,
Djim Job, Calú Monteiro, and Rui. It was great. In 1991 I moved to
Canada.
And have you managed to make music your career?
Right now I don’t live from music, I have another profession. But it
really is hard, especially in Cape Verde, to live from music. You really have
to have a lot of will power and, above all, space. Today, compared to the time
when I began, there are tons of places to make music. And as long as it’s
quality music, an artist can get a hundred people into a hall to hear him. Now,
if you don’t make quality music, if you’re not interested in
evolving constantly, if you don’t practice to perfect your talent, if
you’re not professional and punctual, which doesn’t exist here in
Cape Verde, you can’t live from music. If you don’t give the best
of yourself to the public, you can’t become a professional musician.
And in Canada do you get many opportunities to make music?
No.
You know, in Canada there are practically no Cape Verdeans. There are more or
less two hundred of us living in Toronto, and as far as musicians there’s
just me and one other guy, who’s in Antwerp right now. There’s no
way to form a band. I mean, I can get together with musicians of other
nationalities, but the music will certainly not have that Cape Verdean essence.
A Canadian or a Brazilian won’t know how to play a morna or a coladeira
the way I feel it. They’d end up going into another style of music
that’s not Cape Verdean, and I don’t want that. I like genuine Cape
Verdean music.
And when you feel like hearing this genuinely Cape Verdean music, do you hop over to the United States, which is right next door?
Yes,
in the United States I meet a lot of people who know how to make Cape Verdean
music.
And have you traveled to do concerts a lot?
I could travel much more, but it doesn’t depend only on me. I have a contract with Rosário Brothers and I have to respect it. But there’s no lack of invitations, there are a lot of people who call me and request my presence at parties, concerts. And as they say, you don’t pocket everything, I’ve limited my number of concerts, because I have a defined strategy to achieve a specific objective.
You
recorded three LPs. When and how did you enter the CD era?
Pidrinha is my first CD. For me it was a spectacular record thanks to its repertoire, sound, the group of musicians and composers, who were chosen rigorously, and for the quality of its poetry...
Who are these composers?
Manuel D’Novas, Paulino Vieira, Teófilo Chantre, Gabriel Mariano and Jorge Humberto are a few of them, people who make quality poetry. As far as musicians I would highlight Vlú, a man of great talent. That’s why Pidrinha is a special record, because we had a lot of songs but we didn’t just take them and stick them on the record any which way. We sat down and analyzed them one by one. That meant a lot of work. We worked hard for nine months to produce this record.
Do
you feel that there is a lack of quality in current Cape Verdean poetry?
Yes, there is a lack of quality. The problem is that most of the songs that are made nowadays, I’d say 85 or even 90 percent, are songs to be played at dance clubs. And, of course, when people listen to this type of music they don’t pay attention to the lyrics, they’re concerned with dancing, they don’t care what the music says. But I worry about this. When my record came out, someone came to congratulate me because, she said, there was a great deal of monotony in the musical scene because the radio only plays songs that in most cases just say, “my love, my baby,” the same blah blah. That’s why I say that the poetry is very poor.
And
who would you include in the quality ten percent?
Cesária
Évora, Teófilo Chantre, Jack Monteiro, Bau, who make records that
don’t go out of style and that help us relieve stress. As far as the
music in fashion is concerned, as the name indicates, today it’s played
in all the dance clubs, but tomorrow, when a new one appears, everyone forgets
it.
But it’s within this scene that Cape Verde’s music is obtaining international exposure. Cesária Évora and Suzanna Lubrano, who recently one a Grammy and a Kora award respectively, are the most recent evidence. What do you think of this? Is quality Cape Verdean music winning the war or not?
Of course it’s quality music. And the Grammy Cesária Évora won is proof of this, because it’s not just anybody who wins this award. And she won the award because the music she makes is different, it’s a style of music that identifies the Cape Verdean people. It’s not a rhythm that’s played in other parts of the world.
And
what about the award won by Suzanna Lubrano?
Well, I’d never heard of the award, I don’t know how it’s given. But of course it makes me happy, because it’s one more Cape Verdean artist winning a prize and I congratulate her for it. But I can’t say because I don’t know how the award is attributed.
Suzanna Lubrano was elected best West African artist by the Kora Awards jury. The second prize - best African artist - was voted by the public.
That’s right, the public is very important, it’s 95% of an artist. Giving our music to the people is very hard. It has to be a very good piece of work for them to accept it. If not, they put it aside.
Continuing in the same vein, on Friday the first Nôs Músca awards were given, and during the ceremony you performed for the São Vicente public. What do you think of this event?
It’s a great initiative. I’m not in the loop on the subject enough to comment on the criteria for the nomination and attribution of the awards, why some artists were nominated and others weren’t - in fact, I’ve heard commentaries from people who found it strange that some very prominent artists weren’t nominated - so I can’t say anything more on the subject. But I hope that it can be consolidated and get better with every edition.
And how is your career going? Is it true that you’re preparing a new record?
Yes,
I’m working on the release of a new record. But at the moment I’m
more involved in organizing a European tour. In fact that’s the reason
I’m here in Cape Verde, to define everything along with Bau and the rest
of the band. And I’m also preparing my next record with them. We’ve
already selected a number of songs that are in the preparatory phase.
It’s a record that will follow the same line as Pidrinha, that is,
it’ll be made with calm, based on a rigorous selection of its repertoire.
But at the moment my priority is the tour, which will be in mid-April.
Are you preparing this tour with a spirit of concern for the public, looking to present yourself and the musicians in the most professional way possible, with good lighting, scenery, etc?
Of course, this has always been one of my concerns. In every group I’ve been a part of I’ve demonstrated this concern. I’ve seen concerts here in Cape Verde where there wasn’t adequate lighting to show the musicians who were on the stage. This is inconceivable, just as it’s inconceivable to have a stage that’s not level. People don’t give this attention and musicians are also partly to blame, because they don’t demand better working conditions.
But can’t a very elaborate lighting or stage conception overshadow talent, or, on the other hand, hide the lack of it?
Yes, it can happen. Every artist has his own manner of being on the stage. Some are more dancers than they are singers. Others don’t have a great voice but manage to transmit a strong message to the public, and there are others still who don’t being the public to their feet but manage to captivate people’s attention because they have a special way of singing, almost as if they were reciting the poetry they’re singing.
You sing and have your everyday
profession. What do you do in your free time there in Canada?
Well, excluding winter, which is pretty harsh and no one likes because it
almost forces you to hibernate at home - during winter, it’s work/home,
home/work - I like living there. In Spring and Summer, in my free time I like
to play tennis and practice other sports, to be with my daughter Stephanie,
who’s five, to listen to music.
Considering that the Cape Verdean community in Canada is rather small, what do you miss about Cape Verde?
I miss the climate, which is very important. I also miss the music, and I can’t explain the immensity of the lack I feel. I sing at home, I get together with Brazilian friends and musicians and sing Brazilian music, which I also really enjoy. But getting up on stage to sing is rare. In addition, the distance between Canada and Cape Verde is enormous. Only when I arrive here in Cape Verde do I really feel how far away Canada is. Even though there’s the Internet and the telephone, which allow me to get information about Cape Verde, I feel very distant. Because I miss the friends, I miss the contact I have with people here. I speak Crioulo at home and with the few Cape Verdeans there, but I miss everything, a sunrise and a sunset, a rooster crowing in the morning... Only when I come here and re-live these things do I notice how far I am from here. And when I’m here I don’t want to go back, but I have to.
And how do you smother this nostalgia? With food, music, literature?
Yes,
especially with food, even though the products you buy there don’t have
exactly the same flavor.
Egidio His vocation: playing the violin
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=1306 25/12/2004
The earth is part of Egidio’s life. A gardener by profession, five days a week, beginning at eight o’clock in the morning, his hands delve into the soil of the gardens of the town of Ribeira Brava to help keep them healthy and green. In their free time, these same hardened hands are the instruments in a noble art that is an old tradition on the island of São Nicolau - violin playing. A nephew of the legendary Mané Pchei, Egidio, who is the leader of the group Revelação, speaks in this interview of how he discovered his vocation for playing the violin, tells of is group’s projects and makes a diagnosis of the state of music on the island of São Nicolau.
How did music enter your life?
When I was seven years old I began playing stringed instruments, first the guitar and only later the violin. In fact, the first violin I ever played was improvised by me. At 14 I began to play at dances and wedding parties, as well as in a number of traditional celebrations on the island of São Nicolau.
Who taught you to play?
My father played the guitar and taught me how to play it. But I learned to play violin by myself, I didn’t have a teacher. I learned everything by myself through observing others who played and developed my capacities in this way.
Does this mean that you didn’t learn music in a more formal way? In other words, that you don’t read or write music?
Right, I learned everything by ear thanks to my sensibility, because on São Nicolau there are no music schools.
Tell us what this homemade violin you learned to play on was like.
It was made out of a can of olive oil, wicker reed and a little bit of wood. I found some strings and made the bow as well.
When was the first time you played on a real violin?
A cousin of mine who lives in Holland knew I played but didn’t have a quality instrument, and he sent me one. It was the first time I played on a real violin, except for the few times I had held other musicians’ violins.
What are your recollections of those first years you played at traditional dances and festivities? What was there then that doesn’t exist today?
Back then the music, which was essentially acoustic, wasn’t the only thing that was different. The lyrics of the compositions were different as well. Nowadays people are more into zouk, we have Cape Verdean music transformed into zouk. But I believe that we should conserve our traditional musical genres.
This tendency toward zouk is aggravated here on São Nicolau by the fact that there are fewer and fewer violinists residing on the island, isn’t that right?
Yes, there are fewer and fewer and acoustic and traditional groups. Young people prefer foreign styles and turn their backs on those that have to do with Cape Verde.
Is your group, Revelação, the only one trying to maintain the tradition of Cape Verdean music, or are there other companions in this “struggle”?
There are other groups on São Nicolau - Os Dinâmicos, foe example - but they play music with a zoukified rhythm. I would have to say that Revelação is the only group I can think of in the traditional style.
If young people prefer zouk and they’re the majority of the population, does Revelação still receive invitations to play?
Yes, in spite of this situation, we’ve received quite a few invitations.
Where do you play?
We play in the various different towns and villages on São Nicolau, we’ve been to São Vicente as well, we’ve played five or six times on Sal, we’ve performed five times on Boa Vista, once at the Praia da Cruz festival and once at the Morna Festival... We’ve also been to the island of Santiago, where we participated in a festival organized by PBS - Festvale - and we recently played three concerts in one of Praia’s hotels.
So what I gather is that you play more often off of than on the island.
Not necessarily. We’ve played on other islands, but here on São Nicolau we play at dances on the weekends and at other events when they’re organized here on the island.
What are your performances like? Do you simply play, and people watch motionless, or does the custom of dances still persist on São Nicolau, what we call “bódje de rabeca” [fiddle dance] in Crioulo?
Yes, the fiddle dance tradition is still very strong on São Nicolau. And our group is often invited to play at these dances. And even young people have begun to regain interest, after a certain period of disinterest regarding this type of party.
What is it that Revelação doing in order to capture young people’s attention? Have you done anything different to captivate young people without losing the traditional character of the fiddle dance?
I think we’ve managed to preserve Cape Verde’s and, in particular, São Nicolau’s traditional music, and young people, seeing older folks’ enthusiasm at these dances and the beautiful way they dance a mazurka or a waltz, have also began to gain interest in fiddle dances.
Is this involvement in traditional and acoustic music restricted to dances, or are young people also interested in learning to play the instruments?
Some of them show interest but don’t dedicate themselves entirely, maybe for lack of motivation.
In your opinion, would the creation of a music school here on São Nicolau solve the problem?
A music school on São Nicolau would be very important even for people like me, who know how to play, because they would learn new things, for example, reading written music. And it would certainly help awaken young people’s passion for music and their desire to play not just the guitar, but also the ukulele, the violin and other instruments. Because before there were lots of people who played these instruments, and others who played wind instruments.
These people eventually passed away or emigrated, and the island was left without anyone who could take on the role of teacher....
Exactly
There are some forms of traditional Cape Verdean music that are common to all the islands, such as morna and coladeira. But there are other genres that are typical to each of the islands. What musical genres are typical of São Nicolau?
Older generations have conserved these styles throughout their lives up to our generation. For example, contradance, the waltz, the mazurka, lundum... Our group, Revelação, always plays a repertoire that includes these types of music and another genre that is unique to the island of São Nicolau, which is the music played as the newly-web bride is taken from the church, which we continue to preserve,
And what is this music like?
When someone gets married, there’s a group of musicians that accompanies the bride and groom from the church all the way to the house where the wedding party will take place.
Is it an instrumental style, or is there singing? What genre is it?
We play it instrumentally, but there are compositions with lyrics, which tell jokingly about the newlyweds’ relationship.
And do people still want this type of music at their weddings today?
Yes, they request it a lot.
Given that the musical panorama on São Nicolau is currently difficult, how does Revelação survive?
We’d been invited several times by the municipal chamber to play at events to receive guests from off the island... That was when we decided to form the group on our own and begin to exist autonomously. Through the dances we’d play at we managed to gather funds and purchase a few instruments.
Is recording a CD a part of your short-term projects?
This has been a dream of ours for quite some time now. But we need money in order to record a CD. We’re waiting for the opportunity to get a sponsor. All we need is a sponsor to be able to record in a short time. We have a repertoire made up both of older songs that made their way to us through living witnesses and old recordings, and of original compositions, but compositions which always preserve the musical tradition of the island of São Nicolau.
- How did music enter your life?
When I was seven years old I began playing stringed instruments, first the guitar and only later the violin. In fact, the first violin I ever played was improvised by me. At 14 I began to play at dances and wedding parties, as well as in a number of traditional celebrations on the island of São Nicolau.
- Who taught you to play?
My father played the guitar and taught me how to play it. But I learned to play violin by myself, I didn’t have a teacher. I learned everything by myself through observing others who played and developed my capacities in this way.
- Does this mean that you didn’t learn music in a more formal way? In other words, that you don’t read or write music?
Right, I learned everything by ear thanks to my sensibility, because on São Nicolau there are no music schools.
- Tell us what this homemade violin you learned to play on was like.
It was made out of a can of olive oil, wicker reed and a little bit of wood. I found some strings and made the bow as well.
- When was the first time you played on a real violin?
A cousin of mine who lives in Holland knew I played but didn’t have a quality instrument, and he sent me one. It was the first time I played on a real violin, except for the few times I had held other musicians’ violins.
- What are your recollections of those first years you played at traditional dances and festivities? What was there then that doesn’t exist today?
Back then the music, which was essentially acoustic, wasn’t the only thing that was different. The lyrics of the compositions were different as well. Nowadays people are more into zouk, we have Cape Verdean music transformed into zouk. But I believe that we should conserve our traditional musical genres.
- This tendency toward zouk is aggravated here on São Nicolau by the fact that there are fewer and fewer violinists residing on the island, isn’t that right?
Yes, there are fewer and fewer and acoustic and traditional groups. Young people prefer foreign styles and turn their backs on those that have to do with Cape Verde.
- Is your group, Revelação, the only one trying to maintain the tradition of Cape Verdean music, or are there other companions in this “struggle”?
There are other groups on São Nicolau - Os Dinâmicos, foe example - but they play music with a zoukified rhythm. I would have to say that Revelação is the only group I can think of in the traditional style.
- If young people prefer zouk and they’re the majority of the population, does Revelação still receive invitations to play?
Yes, in spite of this situation, we’ve received quite a few invitations.
- Where do you play?
We play in the various different towns and villages on São Nicolau, we’ve been to São Vicente as well, we’ve played five or six times on Sal, we’ve performed five times on Boa Vista, once at the Praia da Cruz festival and once at the Morna Festival... We’ve also been to the island of Santiago, where we participated in a festival organized by PBS - Festvale - and we recently played three concerts in one of Praia’s hotels.
- So what I gather is that you play more often off of than on the island.
Not necessarily. We’ve played on other islands, but here on São Nicolau we play at dances on the weekends and at other events when they’re organized here on the island.
- What are your performances like? Do you simply play, and people watch motionless, or does the custom of dances still persist on São Nicolau, what we call “bódje de rabeca” [fiddle dance] in Crioulo?
Yes, the fiddle dance tradition is still very strong on São Nicolau. And our group is often invited to play at these dances. And even young people have begun to regain interest, after a certain period of disinterest regarding this type of party.
- What is it that Revelação doing in order to capture young people’s attention? Have you done anything different to captivate young people without losing the traditional character of the fiddle dance?
I think we’ve managed to preserve Cape Verde’s and, in particular, São Nicolau’s traditional music, and young people, seeing older folks’ enthusiasm at these dances and the beautiful way they dance a mazurka or a waltz, have also began to gain interest in fiddle dances.
- Is this involvement in traditional and acoustic music restricted to dances, or are young people also interested in learning to play the instruments?
Some of them show interest but don’t dedicate themselves entirely, maybe for lack of motivation.
- In your opinion, would the creation of a music school here on São Nicolau solve the problem?
A music school on São Nicolau would be very important even for people like me, who know how to play, because they would learn new things, for example, reading written music. And it would certainly help awaken young people’s passion for music and their desire to play not just the guitar, but also the ukulele, the violin and other instruments. Because before there were lots of people who played these instruments, and others who played wind instruments.
- These people eventually passed away or emigrated, and the island was left without anyone who could take on the role of teacher....
Exactly
- There are some forms of traditional Cape Verdean music that are common to all the islands, such as morna and coladeira. But there are other genres that are typical to each of the islands. What musical genres are typical of São Nicolau?
Older generations have conserved these styles throughout their lives up to our generation. For example, contradance, the waltz, the mazurka, lundum... Our group, Revelação, always plays a repertoire that includes these types of music and another genre that is unique to the island of São Nicolau, which is the music played as the newly-web bride is taken from the church, which we continue to preserve,
- And what is this music like?
When someone gets married, there’s a group of musicians that accompanies the bride and groom from the church all the way to the house where the wedding party will take place.
- Is it an instrumental style, or is there singing? What genre is it?
We play it instrumentally, but there are compositions with lyrics, which tell jokingly about the newlyweds’ relationship.
- And do people still want this type of music at their weddings today?
Yes, they request it a lot.
- Given that the musical panorama on São Nicolau is currently difficult, how does Revelação survive?
We’d been invited several times by the municipal chamber to play at events to receive guests from off the island... That was when we decided to form the group on our own and begin to exist autonomously. Through the dances we’d play at we managed to gather funds and purchase a few instruments.
- Is recording a CD a part of your short-term projects?
This has been a dream of ours for quite some time now. But we need money in order to record a CD. We’re waiting for the opportunity to get a sponsor. All we need is a sponsor to be able to record in a short time. We have a repertoire made up both of older songs that made their way to us through living witnesses and old recordings, and of original compositions, but compositions which always preserve the musical tradition of the island of São Nicolau.
Fantcha
Francelina Durão Almeida, a.k.a. Fantcha, was born in Mindelo. From the earliest age, she liked to sing. Instead of playing with dolls or hopscotch with her little girlfriends, her biggest pleasure was to sing with her two brothers who enjoyed playing guitar and cavaquinho at home.
When she was around 10, Fantcha joined the Flores do Mindelo Carnival Company. Like in Brazil, year by year people of a same neighborhood, professional societies, and groups of friends are get ready for the carnival, one of the most important social events in Mindelo. Gregorio Gonçalves, also known as Ti Goy, was at that time one of the most famous composers in the city, and also the Flores Company music director; soon he realized that this young shrill-voiced girl had a voice that people would notice, a voice that would make the difference in the tough competition the carnival companies were indulged in. But, besides her voice and her look, Ti Goy detected in her a promising talent: he told her that she should become a singer and offered her some training lessons.
Years later, Ti Goy introduced Fantcha to Cesaria Evora; she also became a friend of Cesaria’s daughter Fernanda, who was Fantcha’s age. She started to visit Cesaria regularly and learned a lot from her: Ti Goy (who had previously trained Cesaria) taught her the rules of the rhythm as Cesaria taught her the vibes, the emotion, the phrasing, etc.
Early 1988 (later in the same year Cesaria was recording an album that changed her destiny), Fantcha was in Lisboa recording for Bana, the famous Capeverdean singer who lived in Portugal. For the first time, she went to the US, at the Massachusetts Capeverdean community’s invitation, for a concert series in the company of Cesaria Evora. Fantcha thought life was more exciting over there; so she took the decision to join this large New England Capeverdean community, later moving to New York where she is still living.
Since then, she recorded two albums for Lusafrica, Criolinha (“Little Creole”) in 1997, and Viva Mindelo in 2000, which is a tribute to the carnival of Mindelo and her early beginning.
Ferro Gaita
CVMusicWorld.com Thursday, February 24, 2005 -
Ferro Gaita, initially a trio-band, became the greatest musical revelation in the most recent history of Capeverdean music. The Band made up of three young artists, Iduino (accordion/vocals), Bino (ferro/vocals) and Paulinho (guitar bass). This team of adventurers brought funana from its moribund state to the international stage of music.
The group's name FERRO GAITA originated from the combination of two instruments: FERRO (a piece of metal played with a knife), GAITA (type of accordion). Both are utilized in traditional Capeverdean music. The instruments are the bases of the music style called funana. This style of music is unique to the Island of Santiago.
Funana originated in the beginning of the century with the arrival of the accordion to Cape Verde. The instrument was introduced to farmers from the interior of Santiago who began singing about their every day life, praises, needs and their typical way of life. During colonialism, Funana was prohibited in public places.
These young musicians that had already worked with groups such as Djassy and Fans de Marley formed Ferro Gaita on July 22, 1996. During their teenage years, the members discovered the gaita and ferro, with the addition of drums and a bass guitar they found new ways to play Funana. Ferro Gaita began playing in local bars and street concerts and in no time had people's attention. This led to an invitation to participate in the Gamboa ‘97 Festival in May 1997 in the city of Praia, Santiago.
With encouragement from friends and the financial support of the Capeverdean government and private companies, Ferro Gaita produced their first work in June 1997 in Holland by the name of “Fundu Baxu” introduced in August of the same year becoming the highest selling CD in Cape Verde in 1997. This project presented funana in its original style, which came to the surprise of many of those who did not believe funana would bounce back in the market after the collapse of the band Finaçon.
Two years later, the band released its second CD, "Rei de Tabanka", recorded in the US. This album took badiu culture a step further. It includes batuke, finaçon and tabanka along with funana, which makes the project unprecedented. Ferro Gaita is indeed investing in the traditional advancement of Cape Verde.
Funaná: Cape Verde’s calling card
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=127 23/12/2003
Funaná is a Cape Verdean music and dance genre characteristic of the island of Santiago, sung accompanied by an accordion and with the rhythm produced by the scraping of a knife on an iron bar. According to a considerable number of documents, it is a recent musical style that appeared in the early 20th century (it should be remembered that the beginnings of traditional genres such as batuko intermingle with the introduction of slavery and that morna dates from the mid-19th century). Several different authors have attempted to explain the emergence of funaná, and the theories thereof are many and diverse: for some, the importation of accordions by a retail establishment in the beginning of the 20th century contributed toward the spread and popularization of the instrument; for others, the name of the genre comes as a result of the junction of the names of two excellent players, Funa and Naná, which gave rise to the word funaná to designate the type of music they played. Still others defend the theory that the genre came to Cape Verde from São Tomé, where a similar style played with an accordion can be heard, while there are those who say that the term comes from the Portuguese Fungaga, which means an ordinary harmonic line in musical terms, according to the Lello Universal Portuguese dictionary.
We believe that all of these theories may hold some truth. Neither can we rule out the possibility that the Church may have played a part in the introduction of the accordion in the island of Santiago. As it is a relatively light, inexpensive and, above all, easy-to-carry instrument, it may very well have been used as a substitute for the organ.
Funaná is a musical genre that survived for years in the rural areas, isolated and, to a certain degree, discriminated against. Music for dancing, used to animate the parties of country folk, which often ended in brawls or even deaths, the genre was always associated with the mundane aspects of life, looked down upon as music of questionable taste or the music of savages. This idea, dominant among the urban elite, may be explained in part by the fact that, during the colonial era, not all musical forms were afforded their proper value - that is, only morna and coladeira were considered “elevated” forms of music. On the other hand, the tradition of eloping, or stealing of girls from their parents’ homes, gave rise to issues that often ended in fights and even deaths, which may very well have contributed toward the infamy of the parties and gatherings carried out in the rural areas, which were generally animated by this musical genre.
From the countryside to the city
With Cape Verde’s independence in 1975, a veritable explosion took place in the country’s music, dominated by a movement that sought to lend prestige to all the musical forms present in the archipelago. This return to traditional musical sources, in addition to the tinkering of these sources in order to come up with new musical forms, served as a way to lend greater value to existing genres that nevertheless were not considered an integral part of the Cape Verdean musical panorama. In this line of thinking, the country saw, on the one hand, what can be seen as mere “revivalism” of theretofore forgotten genres, such as waltzes, mazurkas and contradanses, in addition to older mornas, coladeiras, batukos, etc. On the other hand, a number of musical groups dedicated themselves to researching traditional genres such as tabanka, which they attempted to orchestrate with new electric instruments, but this innovation was not well-received by the public. The seed of a new form of music was thus sowed and would later bear fruit... and the controversy generated by this new musical philosophy would last for a number of years, with heated debates between those in search of a path toward the evolution of Cape Verde’s music and traditionalists who stood fast in favor of the purity of tradition.
In the late 1970s, this controversy would reach its peak with the appearance of the group Bulimundo, under the orientation of Carlos Alberto Martins, who followed the principle of a return to Cape Verde’s musical roots. The work of this musical group and of Carlos Martins focused mainly on funaná, a genre up until then unexplored by previous groups. Bulimundo embarked on a profound study of the rhythms and melodic structure of this genre and successfully adapted it to electric instruments. The results were an absolute success, first in the interior of the island of Santiago, then in the urban centers and, later, throughout the entire archipelago. Thus the 1980s can be considered a true explosion of this music, due not only to the novelty it represented per se, but also to the necessity for innovation in the field that had made itself felt for some time.
At the beginning, Bulimundo simply adapted rhythms and melodies by traditional composers, but soon this new genre of funaná, complete with orchestration and electric instruments, began to have its own composers and compositions, and quickly affirmed itself as a new musical genre born of the original funaná, which remains alive and vital.
The precursors of funaná
The enrichment of the Cape Verdean musical panorama is how we could classify the so-called funaná movement, which gave rise to numerous groups specializing in this type of music. The most famous of these is Finaçon (the product of a split in Bulimundo), responsible for the introduction of this style of music on an international level. In the late 1980s, Finaçon signed a contract with a prestigious French record distributor and began promotional tours of its records throughout all of Europe. One of Finaçon’s most successful songs is “Feia” (“Ugly”), whose video was shown on practically all European and African television stations. The brothers Zezé and Zeca Nha Reinalda were the singers and composers of this group, two names of great prestige in the Cape Verdean musical panorama who would continue to produce hits within this musical genre.
From traditional music restricted to rural environments, funaná is one of the greatest conquests in the realm of music in Cape Verde’s post-independence period. Although the product of the work and research of many musicians, the decisive contribution was that of Carlos Alberto Martins and his group Bulimundo. To them we owe the creation of a new musical genre that had long been lacking - a new Cape Verdean musical genre that went beyond the limited panorama of morna and coladeira, which lasted until the 1970s and widened the horizons of Cape Verdean music.
Music and dance, whether in the traditional or electric modes, funaná is a musical genre that, together with morna, is now the calling card of a country called Cape Verde.
Gardénia Benrós
Cape Verdean by birth, Gardenia Benrós is a critically acclaimed artist descended from a family of celebrated Cape Verdean singers.
Her mother, known as "Meek," and her grandmother "Nené" were her role models. Nené had popularized the mornas [sad, romantic ballads] of Cape Verde's best known composer, Eugenio Tavares.
A celebrity in her native Cape Verde and in European countries like Portugal, Spain, Holland, France, and Italy, Gardenia recently graduated from Berkelee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, earning a degree in Professional Music. Although she had a string of successful albums for PolyGram, the first Cape Verdean ever signed to the label, and had toured extensively with many appearances on television shows and on the covers of magazines throughout Europe and the former Portuguese colonies of Cape Verde Island, Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau in Africa, she was aware of her limitations.
"I wanted to have more control over my creative work by learning how to write out my own music," she says. "I also wanted to learn more about the music business." Now that she has completed her studies, Gardenia has been regenerated. In her first CD single Production and video as an independent artist, Simplesmente Caboverdiana (Simply Cape Verdean), she has embarked upon a new, and exciting, stage in her career.
Bo Kin Cre, her last production also features a song she wrote and dedicated to composer Eugenio Tavares. The song is entitled Vila De Nova Sintra. Gardenia is confident of her future and in her ability to grow as an independent artist. "I am coming out this time with different material and a new image. It is time to let the people know through my new material exactly who I am as a musician. This new CD features less of a traditional sound and more dance-oriented music."
Booking agent and management: jorge-humberto@clix.pt
Gardenia The Voice of Cape-verdean soul
From: FRAGATA - Revista da TACV
Cabo Verde Airline - Abril do 2000
There are many female singers. Composers however, not as many. Gardénia, the golden voice of Cape-verdean music, thrives to conciliate the two, along with editing her own work, and invests in herself to determine the direction of her career. A voice travelling through different places and times, bridging the islands, as well as bridging the islands to the world.
Fourteen years after her first album, having released nine until now, Gardénia is not ready to rest. On the contrary, the artist is investing more each day in her career, and less than two years ago she created her own company. It is worth going back in time to remember how it all started.
Although she was born in the city of Praia, on the island of Santiago, in Cape Verde, it is on the traditions of the morna of the island of Brava where she got the inspiration and the themes for her first album in 1986, where she interprets the compositions of the famous poet and rhymer, Eugénio Tavares.
This was no accident, considering that she was born with, this tradition: her grandmother, born in the Village of Nova Sintra, was known in her time for her performances at parties and cultural events on the island as an interpreter of mornas, and for her public presentations of new creations of the composer, taught to her by the composer himself. Her mother revealed early on to have a good voice and talent, which called the attention of one of the Capuchin monks on the island, who gave her voice lessons. Later, she even sang on radio programs. Naturally, the mornas of Maestro Eugénio were part of her repertoire.
Nothing more natural for the young singer, with an antecedent like this, to lean towards the tradition of Brava's mornas on her debut album, recorded in Lisbon with musician like Paulino Vieira, Toi Vieira, Péricles Duarte and Tito Paris, among others.
Edited by PolyGram, this work turned Gardénia into a pioneer in Cape Verdean music - still today, but more during the 70s and 80s - are edited by the authors themselves or by record labels that are not known internationally.
Having been discovered, Gardenia's music brings on new perspectives. In the albums that she has recorded up to date, Cape Verdean tradition appears as a determining heritage in her growth as an artist. However, her music will blend with her personal and musical experience - her childhood in Lisbon, her adolescence in Boston, where she debuted as a vocalist of the band Tropical Power, made up Cape Verdeans residents in the U.S - which naturally left their marks.
Studying
to be an all-rounded artist
First she sang. Then, she composed.
In her most recent work, Bo Kin Cre, from 1999, Gardénia joined the club of composers and this happened after having attended Berkley College of Music of Boston. "Music school turned me into a complete artist" she affirms.
"Now I can continue to develop my own style, using the musical influences of the countries where I've lived and live, but always respecting the base of Cape Verdean musical tradition."
"Completing a degree in music continues to be a rarity among women. This helped me to deal with any musician in the world. I didn't mind interrupting my career to get an education", says the artist. Concentrating in the areas of voice and performance, Gardénia didn't put aside the aspects connected to business.
Determined to put into practice the acquired knowledge, she created in 1998 her own label, Independent Talent Productions. "Today I am able to produce and distribute my own work."
Gardénia has inspired poets and composers like Manuel de Novas, João Amaro, Teófilo Chantre, among others. The poet Jomar in the poem Louvor a Gardénia, writes: "When singing mornas you are a genie, a messenger for us all, you are beautiful with all courtesy and you bewitch all with your voice." Throughout her career, besides the frequent invitations within the United States, where she lives, she has enchanted audiences with her performances in many countries. Canada, Barbados, Hawaii, France, Holland, Spain - besides, naturally, Portugal and Cape Verde - are some of the countries where she has been through.
In 1999 she conducted a series of performances in Portugal to promote her most recent album. Each performance was a unique moment of meeting with the sound of Cape Verde in the unique voice of Gardénia, accompanied by excellent musician, such as Toy Vieira, John Mota, Moisés, Euclídes Barbosa and Zé Mário. Tito Paris, was a constant and alert presence.
On different occasions she has been accompanied by names representative of the different areas of Cape Verdean music, from Luís Morais and Chico Serra, to Djoy Delgado, and Danny Carvalho and Manuel d'Candinho, having the last three participated in Bo Kin Cre, where batuque, funaná, morna and coladeira still allow for touch of Samba and salsa.
The album has an interactive sound track which can be seen through the internet - an aspect that once more makes Gardénia a pioneer of Cape Verdean music - and which shows photographs, biographical and disco graphical data, karaoke and even a video, produced by Gardénia herself, with an interpretation of Melodias de Saudade, a composition whose lyrics evokes the mornas by which she was rocked to when she was a child, and which have followed her until today. Mornas, which in her clear voice, has guaranteed its eternity, generation through generation, as it happened until now:
Gardenia's discography
Gardenia Benrós, Polygram Records, EUA, 1986.
When Love is Gone/I Need You, Polygram Records, EUA, 1987
Raizinho di Sol, Ed. Autor, EUA, 1988
O Melhor de Cabo Verde Mix, MB Records, EUA, 1989
É Sim, MB Records, EUA, 1990.
O Melhor de Cabo Verde Mix II, MB Records, EUA, 1994
Kryola D' Encantar, PolyGram Records, EUA,1995
Simplesmente Caboverdiana, Indep.Talent Productions, EUA, 1997
Bo Kim Cre, Independent Talent Productions, EUA, 1999.
A PRAISE TO GARDENIA
Magically your voice enchants
While singing mornas
You cast a spell, with your beauty and elegance
Beloved, you are our messenger
From the Island of Santo Antao, to Brava
Unparalleled, you represent Cape Verde
The nest of troubadours and poets
Who thirst for the unimaginable goddess.
Singing thought the universe
And making familiar our legend,
Alive and deep within
You kindle this flame
In these meek quatrains of praise
Dedicated with all my heart
Gardenia, a flower in a garden,
A thank you from Joao Amaro
Gil Semedo
CVMusicWorld.com Thursday, February 24, 2005 -
Gil Semedo Moreira was born on October 25, 1974, on the island of Santiago in Cabo Verde. At the age of six, he immigrated with his family to Holland. Ever since his childhood, he has appreciated music.
In his youth he started experimenting and writing his first songs.
His style is a mixture of original Cape Verdean genres, the Funana and the Coladera, with modern dance music. His first maxi-single was immediately a big success and reached the top of the Cabo Verde and Portuguese charts.
Less than three years later, he was at the top of the most of the Portuguese speaking countries or countries were there are many Portuguese-speaking immigrants. He is now a very successful Cape Verdean artist and performs frequently not only in his home bases Cabo Verde and Holland, but also in the U.S.A., France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Angola, Senegal and obviously in Portugal.
His repertoire is entirely based on his own compositions. He has already made six CDs. His album "Verdadi", launched in August 1996, sold 20,000 in three months. His clips are still being broadcast on the Portuguese (RTP) and Cape Verdean television
Grace Evora
Grace Evora was born on February 2, 1969, on the island of São Vicente in Cape Verde. Since childhood Grace has displayed an immense interest in music both as a singer and drummer. Thanks to a musically gifted family, which is highly respected within the Cape Verdean music industry, it is no surprise that this talented musician and singer has reached such stardom.
At a young age Grace and his parents emigrated to Paris for a short time, and then took permanent residency in Rotterdam, Holland.
Grace's big break came in 1989, when he was invited to play drums with the group Livity. This opportunity lead to a number of appearances with other groups such as Rabelados, Koladance, Cabo Verde Show and Splash!. When Livity approached Grace he was already established as a reputable drummer. As luck would have it, the band decided to allow Grace to record one song entitled "Bia" on their second release.
This song which represented the sensual and sentimental side of Grace immediately captured an audience that resulted in him becoming a solo artist. Grace has released three Compact Discs titled "Total Love I, Total Love II" and finally, the much anticipated "Romance".
In 1999, Grace collaborated with RB Records, Inc. to release "Romance". RB Records, Inc. from a label perspective decided to align Grace with recognized Cape Verdean musicians as well as allowing him the very best in production and engineering. This collaboration resulted in one of Grace's best work to date.
Today, thanks to RB Records, Inc. Grace Evora is enjoying a thriving musical career both as a solo artist and also as a prominent drummer with the group Splash!
Ildo Lobo
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=978 23/10/2004
Ildo, why? The question, written on a sign held by young students, faithfully mirrored what was being felt in the souls of those who were taken by surprise Wednesday morning by the news of Ildo Lobo’s death - people who put everything else on hold in order to pay their final respects to the singer who so perfectly sang the soul of Cape Verde. As compensation for the loss, the country now waits for Ildo Lobo to be “brought back to life” in his next and final CD, Incondicional, set to be released in November.
On Wednesday, all of Praia’s public employees have been given leave for the afternoon. Despite the government decree, the center of the city is full of people, but whose movements are definitely not those of a typical, everyday crowd, with individuals greeting one another and going from one place to another taking care of business.
On this Wednesday, on which friends, and all of Cape Verde, were taken by surprise with the news of Ildo Lobo’s death, people’s movements were unhurried, and the lively colors that characterize Cape Verdeans’ taste were replaced by black and white. The importance of the deceased made this obligatory, in a day and age in which mourning garb is only worn after the death of a very close relative.
But among those who love morna, the music that externalizes Cape Verde’s suffered and sentimental soul, or the coladeira, which expresses Cape Verdeans’ joyous way of dealing with life’s tribulations, who is it that has not lost a dear family member this week? A family member who sings to us when things are not going well or who gives rhythm to our happiness with his voice?
This is why a devastated Praia gathered at the municipal building to pay its final homage to the man that had passed way and to show that his voice will not be silenced.
There, a friend commented about the time when a young Ildo had just arrived in Praia, while another recalled his last contact with the singer, in which Ildo, “can you believe it?,” praised his voice during a tour in the Netherlands. Countless anonymous people filled the square before the municipal building to pay their silent respects to everyone’s favourite singer. But in spite of the silence, the expression on everyone’s face revealed what they were feeling. It was as if the words to a morna of farewell were being whispered into their ears. This final homage put bus driver, vendor, and doctor side by side in the square in the unanimity of pain.
This pain did not prevent one of those present to react in a delicate manner to a street vendor from the west coast of Africa, who, not understanding what was going on, decided to take advantage of the large numbers of people to sell his wares. It was explained to him that this was neither the place nor the time to do business, as everyone there was utterly heartbroken at having lost one of their greatest singers, a part of their soul.
In his broken Crioulo, the seller of handicrafts responded, “you’re right,” and respectfully withdrew from the square, calling over a colleague to explain why they shouldn’t be there: the squarer represented an entire country in mourning.
This mourning did not keep Ildo Lobo’s friends from giving him what he asked to be given in life - a farewell serenade. Using the words of Praia mayor Felisberto Vieira in his eulogy, Praia’s musicians did “more than cry for Ildo.” By singing, they decided to “eternalise” him. And it was with music that they led him to his final resting place.
And despite the beauty of this image, if indeed it is possible to speak of beauty in the midst of mourning, other images along the way stood out - such as that of the hundreds of people who stood silently at the side of the road, in a sign of respect, to let the funeral procession pass, or that of an old woman unable to contain a deep sob of pain upon seeing the coffin pass by.
But the march toward the Várzea cemetery would reveal other scenes of pain and sadness as well, like that of a loan woman who, unable to bear her sorrow, had to lean on a car parked along the side of the road while she cried convulsively, as if she had lost a beloved friend, or another who, standing in front of a beauty salon, placed a magazine over her face to hide her tears. The sadness was patent in the sobs and tears almost no one managed to contain.
The final march toward the cemetery was the final test of the sadness that overtook the city. A neighborhood ever bubbling with the playing of children, Várzea was utterly silent. The children were there along the side of the road, standing quietly in honor of the man whose grandeur they will discover when they grow up through the work he has left behind.
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
In the midst of the tears of nostalgia, someone said, “History has repeated itself. Three years ago I was in this exact same place, living an identical story.” He was referring to another irreplaceable name in Cape Verdean music, who had only just begun his musical path: Orlando Pantera.
In only four years, Cape Verde has lost four irreplaceable names in its richest cultural domain, music. Orlando Pantera (2001), Luís Morais (2003), Ano Nobo (2004) and now Ildo Lobo have disappeared forever, too great a loss for such a tiny country, where great talents, even in a scenario of such prolific musical production, are not come across every day.
Even so, among the various comments made by those who accompanied Ildo Lobo to his final resting place was that of a childhood friend, who said, “Ildo lived the way he wanted, he experienced everything he thought he should experience.” And as for those who would sometimes call his attention to behavior that could put his health at risk, Ildo would say, “This is the way I’ve always been, and I’m not going to change.”
Cape Verde stopped in time, motionless, as Ildo’s body was lowered into the earth.
Marilene Pereira
The Ildo I knew
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=980 23/10/2004
I met Ildo Lobo 16 years ago, soon after I arrived in Cape Verde. Our paths literally crossed. Not because I was connected to music, in spite of that idea that persists throughout the world that all Brazilians either sing or dance.
I met him because his custom’s agent office was located on the same block where I lived for nearly ten years, in Praia’s Fazenda neighborhood. I was struck by that handsome man, whose presence no woman failed to notice, and by his polite manner, always greeting me in a cordial and discreet manner. His good mornings and good afternoons meant a lot, as they always do for those who have just arrived in a country where they have no friends.
Thus, without his even knowing it, Ildo was my first friend, if I can call him that, as he was the only face familiar to me apart from my adoptive parents, Hermínia and Filinto. Later, I discovered that behind this man immense in stature was an immense voice. Many years later, I would comment to the friends I made that Ildo Lobo’s voice, in addition to melodious, was so powerful that it seemed as if he had an amplifier next to his vocal cords.
Our relationship continued to consist of good mornings. And some two months ago, because of a project I was doing for A Semana, I had the opportunity to move the relationship beyond our formal greetings and tell him that my life in Cape Verde has Ildo Lobo’s face as its point of departure, as I’m one of those people who believes that we should always tell others how much we like them. This is very important.
The opportunity came as a result of the decision to hold a major interview with him because of the CD he was going to release, based on what he indicated, around Christmas time. But in spite of my efforts, the interview was hard to schedule. I always felt that Ildo, albeit a man of the stage, had an aversion to the press, perhaps because he was very shy.
But because insistence is part of the profession, I did manage to speak with Ildo. He asked for more time - he didn’t want to appear pretentious by “promoting the record even before it was ready.” I agreed - what choice did I have? - with the assurance that as soon as everything was ready he would grant me an exclusive interview. The interview never happened, and I was unable to tell Ildo how much I liked him and find out if he had received the many messages I’d sent, telling him to take care of his health, because, like myself, he was the idol of my 13-year-old daughter. And this was not something mundane for a 50-year-old man, in a world in which globalization imposes other, less noble sounds, while removing melody and tradition from the minds of our youth. Ildo is gone, but the image we had of him remains in us all.
Marilene Pereira
Ildo Lobo - Unconditional
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=979 22/10/2004
With their eyes still red from their tears, Cape Verdeans will likely hear Ildo Lobo’s most recent and last recording within a matter of weeks. The new album was slated to be released on November 27, and may help ease the pain caused by the loss of the man whom many considered Cape Verde’s greatest voice.
The CD, to be entitled Incondicional (Unconditional), is made up of eleven tracks, most of them mornas and coladeiras, with one or two other rhythms that, according to Djô da Silva of the Lusafrica record label, Ildo Lobo wanted to record to surprise his audience. “Incondicional is a major work carried out along the same lines as Intelectual. The name was chosen by Ildo Lobo himself, who at the beginning of the week sent us the phrase ‘Ildo Lobo, back in unconditional confidence.’ He wanted the phrase to be written on the CD’s promotion posters and serve as its slogan,” says the owner of Lusafrica.
Recording was concluded in July, and Ildo Lobo’s death found the record company putting the final touches on the CD cover and promotional posters in Lisbon. “The date scheduled for the commercial release of the CD was November 27, with a concert in the Fnac store. Ildo was supposed to arrive in Lisbon before that, on November 15, for rehearsals, and on December 2 he was going to participate in a charity concert alongside Cesária Évora and other Cape Verdean artists in the Aula Magna venue. On December 18, he was to return to Aula Magna to present Incondicional to a larger audience and then leave for France,” says Silva, leafing through Lobo’s agenda.
In Cape Verde, Ildo Lobo’s last recording also awakened interest even before recording had been completed. The Sal municipal chamber had decided to sponsor the release of the CD on the island where this “great defender of traditional Cape Verdean music” was born, and Fernando Andrade, one of Cesária Évora’s band members, was in charge of selecting the musicians who would accompany Ildo Lobo for the concert. “We’re going to release this CD on a date that we’ll set later, because right now it’s impossible to think about concrete actions.” Barely able to contain the sobs that insist on interrupting his words, Djô da Silva says that “frankly, we’re hoping for a miracle, and to be able to make up for Ildo’s physical absence.”
Djô da Silva believes that Cape Verde has lost a great proponent of social issues, the voice of Os Tubarões and the architect of a solo masterpiece, the album Nós Morna, a hymn to the music and the country he sang and represented so beautifully.
And, adds Silva, Cape Verde responded in kind, because, despite the widespread practice of CD piracy, Ildo sells more records than any other Cape Verdean artist. The empathy between Ildo and his admirers is evident, and is reflected in numbers. “Ildo was very popular, particularly in the Portuguese-speaking world. He mentioned his CD in an interview about two months ago, and since then Lusafrica has received a number of orders,” he cites.
This is one of the reasons Djô da Silva will not alter the date of the charity concert aimed at benefiting needy Cape Verdeans residing in São Tomé and Príncipe, scheduled for December 2, in which Ildo Lobo was to sing alongside Cesária Évora, Lura and Nancy Vieira. “We’re going to use this concert to pay homage to Ildo Lobo,” he concludes.
The next passage is from: http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/artists/artist_page.php?id=2283
In his native Cape Verde, Ildo Lobo was seen as the archipelago's greatest singers, heir to a tradition shaped by Bana and popularized worldwide by Cesaria Evora. Lobo also has strong political commitments and his plain speaking is legendary.
For years, he was the singer and star of the Os Tubaroes group, long viewed as Cape Verde's "official" band in the days of the Marxist government. As such, he regularly traveled abroad to represent his country. Os Tubaroes (The Sharks) became the ambassadors of Capeverdean music, exporting their funana, coladera and morna beats all over the world.
Today, the group is no more. One of its particularities was that none of its members was a full-time musician, they were also lawyers, doctors, civil servants and so on. In fact, Ildo Lobo is a customs officer. As you might imagine, it is difficult to keep up another career while working in the performing arts, but in countries such as Cape Verde, it is rarely an option for musicians to practice their art full-time.
In 1996, Ildo Lobo recorded his first solo album, Nos Morna. The record was a tribute to his father who had died a few years before and was composed entirely of mornas. Antoninho Lobo was one of Cape Verde's great singers, leaving his personal mark on the morna played on the island of Santiago, and his son is carrying on the tradition today. Nos Morna was produced by Mario Lucio, the charismatic front man of the band Simentera, and recorded in Paris with the finest musicians from the island of Santiago.
In 2001, Ildo released his album entitled Intelectual still in partnership with his old songwriting companions, but accompanied by Cesaria Evora's musicians this time.
After some health problems that kept him away from his musical activities for a while, Ildo returned to the studio during the summer 2004, together with Cesaria Evora's musicians. The pianist Fernando (Nando) Andrade, who made the arrangements on Cesaria's two last albums, produced the album.
Incondicional, whose title clearly illustrates the singer's uncompromising character, opens with the last morna he wrote: Nha Fidjo Matcho, the advice of a father to his son. It also features Alto Cutelo, a coladera written by Renato Cardoso (one of Amilcar Cabral's political heirs, who was mysteriously assassinated at the start of the 80s), two songs by Betu (Adalberto Silva, his constant companion) and three by Constantino Cardoso (Ildo Lobo wanted to give the young writer his chance).
Ildo Lobo died of a heart attack in the morning of October 20th, 2004, at his home in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde. He had been in poor health for a number of months.
Discography (as solo artist):
Nos Morna (Lusafrica, 1006)
Intelectual (Lusafrica, 2001)
Incondicional (Harmonia Mundi, 2004/Lusafrica 2005)
Jorge Humberto returns with new CD
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=1197 04/12/2004
On December 31, Jorge Humberto will perform a concert in Mindelo to unveil the fourth solo album of his career, after a six-year interval. The album hails in a new phase in the life of the singer and composer, who now lives in France. In this interview with A Semana Online, Jorge Humberto tells how he began in music and speaks of his records and future plans.
A Semana Online: Identidade (Identity) is the title of your fourth solo album, which will hit the market on December 31. Tell us about this record.
Jorge Humberto: All of the tracks on Identidade were composed by me, and the arrangements were done by my friend, the musician Voginha. In April, during my first trip this year to Cape Verde, I presented my work to a small audience, so people could find out who Jorge Humberto is after a long period of absence. I invited Cape Verdean and French musicians to record the CD...
Who?
Voginha, as I’d said, as well as a Cape Verdean bassist who was born in Senegal. I also put the sound of a guitar from Boa Vista with Nenezinho, who lives in France... a young man named Zeca plays cavaquinho on Identitidade. I also play guitar on some of the songs, in addition to singing.
What compositions did you include on the album? Are they recent, or had they been around a long time waiting for an opportunity to be recorded?
Well, since this is the first record I’ll be releasing with Morabeza Records, the first producer of my career - I signed a five-year contract - I gave priority to my more recent compositions. I recorded songs like “Nha Boné,” for example, which talks about a very interesting theme in Cape Verdean oral tradition, the morna “Ilha na Céu,” about my native island, São Vicente, a blues number. I also recorded “Justo e Racional,” which talks about my vision of the world at 44 years of age, and for the first time I recorded two mazurkas and a colá san jon, the latter of which tells about the strong link that exists between São Vicente and Santo Antão because of this popular festival. The song is dedicated to the group Cordas do Sol... In sum, there are 14 tracks about current issues. But I hope to have the opportunity to re-record some of my older songs on my next records, since I’m now beginning a new phase in my artistic life with Morabeza Records.
What gave you the idea to baptize the record with the name Identidade?
The idea came from my producer, Elísio Lopes...
And in your opinion, does the name fit the content of the record?
Yes, I think so, because in today’s confusing world, in which a number of countries try to politically and culturally subjugate other peoples, it’s important for us to know who we are, our identity, so that we don’t become lost as individual and unique beings and as Cape Verdeans as well.
Your last record was released in 1998 and was called Porto Experimental (Experimental Port). Where did this title come from?
I called that record Porto Experimental because at the time I was living in the city of Porto, in northern Portugal, and that was where I got the inspiration to compose all of the songs on the record. On the other hand, it was a record in which I carried out new experiments both in the way several musical instruments, such as the guitar, were played, and in the way I composed, which resulted in the name Porto Experimental.
And in your opinion, how was the public’s reaction to this record?
I won’t talk about results on the pocketbook level because in art this comes in last place. I didn’t earn money with that record, but it was well-received, because at the time I was alone, and I didn’t have a record company to support my work. It was a songwriter’s record. The problem there is with my records - I also recorded Guentá (1992) and Moiabo un Consolá (1994) - is that they’re not sold in Cape Verde, since when I recorded them I didn’t have a publisher. But I believe people like my music, and I had proof of this during the last Baía das Gatas festival.
Was it the first time you participated in the festival?
No, I participated in practically all of the first editions of the Baía das Gatas festival, at least up until the fifth one.
And after all these years, what is your opinion of the festival?
No matter what the cultural dimension the festival has is, it’s an event that generates revenues. So I feel proud to have participated in the origin of the festival, which nowadays has enormous repercussions abroad. And although many years went by during which I wasn’t invited to participate in the festival, I feel happy that it exists, because it’s an activity that has considerable social, cultural and economic weight.
When did you begin to sing? Is it a family “ill,” as is the case with many Cape Verdean musicians?
This wasn’t my case. I don’t remember seeing anyone in my family who played, at least not any relatives I knew. My vocation for music has a lot to do with the education I had. I went to elementary school at the Salesiana School, at the time there were singing and music classes, and that’s where I learned much of what makes me a singer today.
Did you take the classes because of a love for music or because you were obliged to?
I went because I wanted to, but also because I was obliged to, as it was part of the school curriculum. And fortunately we were well taught by good teachers, among them the late Father Cristiano. But later I furthered my musical knowledge on my own. I took an electricity course and worked for 10 years in the Autonomous Port Authority, today Enapor, but I stopped when I had an accident that burned my hand. I went to Portugal for medical treatment and it was there that I took the opportunity to deepen by relationship with music.
And how is this relationship today?
I’ve signed a five-year contract with Morabeza Records, which recorded major musicians and groups in the 1960s, such as Luís Morais and Voz de Cabo Verde. With this contract my record Identidade will be placed on the market in Cape Verde, and people will have the opportunity to hear my music again after all these years. So I feel as if I were starting over.
But before your solo career you were part of several musical groups in São Vicente, is that right?
Yes, the first group I was a part of was made up of friends of mine from Chã de Alecrim, called Progresso, when I was still a boy of 17. We would play in all of the neighborhoods, Salamansa, for example, and we’d go to Santo Antão as well. But it didn’t last long because we lacked financial means to continue. But we survived for a considerable period of time thanks to the support of Luís Morais and his wife, Bela, who would loan us instruments.
When was your first record born?
I recorded my first record when I was still in Cape Verde, before I emigrated. In 1989, I had a project called “Ambições” (“Ambitions”), with arrangements by Vasco Martins. But I didn’t manage to record the album, even though I had several sponsors. But I still nurture the hope to record it one day, maybe with Morabeza Records. Later, in 1992, I recorded Guentá, my first album, which was released on vinyl by Sons d’África and recorded at Valentim de Carvalho. It was one of the last records released on vinyl, since it was the threshold of the compact disc. After that came Moiabo un Consolá (1994) and Porto Experimental (1998).
What is your analysis of Cape Verdean music today?
Cape Verdean music is still a child, for we’re a young country and a young people, and we still have a lot to learn. There is traditional music, musical fusion and interesting new experiments. But there are also a lot of low-quality products.
Kiki Lima
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=2949 25/06/2005
“I feel the need to paint in order to survive as a person”
He left Cape Verde with a scholarship to study Law, but the “bug” for art spoke more loudly and his ambition to earn a doctorate was set aside. A smart choice, say the admirers of Kiki Lima, one of the most important Cape Verdean painters today. The visual artist, who is also a musician, is one of the few Africans to have an art gallery in Portugal. But one day, as nostalgia gripped his heart, he decided to return to his native land. Today, residing in Mindelo, he is the mentor of the Kaza d’Ajinha, an innovative project bringing together art, cuisine and camaraderie in a single space, while he continues to create the human and natural landscapes of Cape Verde with his colorful brushstrokes.
Interviewed by: Teresa Sofia Fortes
How and when was your interest in the visual arts awakened?
This happened relatively late, when I was 21, if I’m not mistaken. While in high school I had never shown any interest in drawing. Only in my last year in high school did I earn a good grade in a drawing exam, and this awoke by attention. I starting making a few drawings, my mother always supported me and friends encouraged me to learn more. So I signed up for a long-distance drawing and paining course in Portugal and I began to acquire technical knowledge. In 1974 I’d already painted my first paintings, although recently a painting surfaced that I apparently painted in the late 1960s, which would make it my first. After this, I began participating in collective exhibits here in Mindelo, in 1975, and later I went to Portugal to study.
But you didn’t go to study visual arts?
No, I didn’t go to study visual arts. I sent to Portugal in 1983 to study Law. I spent two years studying Law, but then I switched to visual arts, as I came to the conclusion that Law was not my specialty. I had chosen Law because I’d been given a scholarship for it. I worked at the union and they needed someone with a degree in this area, so they gave me a scholarship. I originally intended to go to Portugal and simultaneously study Law and Visual Arts, but when I got there the art bug was stronger. So I switched to Visual Arts. It wasn’t an easy path, first of all because I already had a family - five children - and supporting them was difficult because I was living on a stipend. So after I abandoned the Law course, I would play at various different places in Lisbon in order to earn a little bit more. So this transition process was not easy, because I also had to get used to the Lisboa milieu, which is nothing like the calm life we lead here in Cape Verde. But this wasn’t my only challenge. The other was trying to live from art. There was and still is the idea, which is real, that it isn’t possible to live off art, so I had to create the conditions to be able to live from art. I created my own space in Portugal’s artistic milieu so that I could be the one dictating the rules in what I wanted to do. I think I was successful.
As soon as you completed your course, did you immediately begin to earn your living as a visual artist?
I went to Portugal in 1983 and three years later I was already holding exhibits. I had the help of good friends in Portugal, people connected to the world of art who introduced me to gallery owners, published my serigraphs, which allowed me to support myself. When I finished the course in 1989, I already had some experience in the milieu, so it wasn’t so complicated.
What was the initial reception to your first paintings?
The reception was always good. I think this is what gave me the courage to go on. If the reception had been bad, I might have come up against other difficulties and re-thought the future. Although at the time African artists still had a lot of doors closed to them, I think I managed to knock on the right doors, and they opened.
What do you think made it easier for you to make your way to places that were up until then closed off to African artists?
Well, from the very beginning I had to count on people who knew their way around and who could introduce me to people who work in the art world. People then had to look at my work and think that it was worth something, or at least invest in me. When I got to Portugal I already had some technical knowledge acquired through the long-distance course, so I didn’t do a painting course but rather communications design, as my professors suggested, as they thought that from a technical point of view there wasn’t much I needed to learn, and that it would be more worthwhile to find my own path and create a style. So as I already had the technical knowledge that would allow me to have my own expression in painting, people looked at my work and saw that, although I wasn’t yet a major artist, there was the possibility of them finding something new.
And what was the path that you chose within painting?
The first phase of my painting is predominantly dramatic, and has to do with the dramas experienced by Cape Verdeans - the problems of drought, famine, family needs, the brown landscape - but it also has an emotional part, which is linked to the woman as a mother. This is all expressed through a very Cape Verdean color scheme. As you know, from the point of view of color harmony, the nature of Cape Verde is poor and I decided that I should invest in people, as they make up for nature’s lack of color, because they wear colorful, joyful clothes. This first phase was related to the post-independence period, with the turbulence that was experienced at the time with social demands. But when I decided to hold my first exhibits I decided to alter things, but not because the paintings I’d done before were negative. At the time, the image people had of Cape Verdeans in Portugal was horrible. People had the idea that Cape Verdeans were a synonym of violence. The newspapers echoed this idea, and, indeed, there were very few people in the context in which I lived who knew that Cape Verdeans had a culture behind them, just like all peoples throughout the world. Above all a joyous culture, with a great deal of music and dance, very beautiful. You can’t generalize acts of violence, which are much fewer in quantity and meaning than the cultural aspect, and turn this into the disaster of a people. So I opted for expressing this joyous vein Cape Verdeans have. It was a change that was worthwhile, and resulted well. This was accompanied by evolution in technical terms. The way I painted, with short brushstrokes of a more impressionist type, from the school in which I’d learned, became a more open, wide style of painting.
When did you feel you had already conquered your own space in the artistic world?
There was no specific moment, but I think that the number of invitations to hold exhibits is a sure sign. I managed to hold ten exhibits in one year, which is practically one exhibit per month. And this was in the 1990s, a decade of a major artistic boom in Portugal. There were many gallery owners and marchands who invited me to display and sell my works. I was also solicited quite a bit by the media. At one point there were many invitations from radio and television stations and the written press.
Do you think your painting helped change the negative image the Portuguese had of Cape Verdeans, at least in artistic circles?
I think so, but it wasn’t just me. Fortunately there were other interventions in this respect that allowed people to reach this conclusion. Cape Verdean associations adhered to the idea of introducing culture as a strong expression, making it overshadow the negative aspects. For example, batuko groups would go sing and dance in schools. After this, their bosses would regard them with respect and admiration. And the children, the sons and daughters of these batuko singers, began to feel happier because their mothers were artists and this boosted their ego, and the relationships with their classmates would operate on another plane. The result of all this is that many Portuguese began to attend Cape Verdean association events, such as dances, concerts, etc., for they began to lose their fear. Not just my painting but Cape Verdean music and dance began to become more visible and helped change the image people had of Cape Verdeans. In the specific case of my painting, this was visible in the demand for my works. People would buy my paintings as a way of making their environment or their home more joyful.
You said that for some time you played at various spots in Lisbon, and actually in Cape Verde many people also think of you as a singer. Right now, what is music’s place in your life?
Music is currently in a very intimate corner. I only sing and play for my friends and family. Because as I dedicated myself so fully to painting, no time was left for music in a way that would allow me to dedicate myself to it in a deeper, more “serious” way. Cape Verdean music has evolved quite a bit, and in order to accompany this development, considering my way of looking at life, I would have to study, invest in and dedicate myself much more to music, like I did with painting. I didn’t have time to do both, so I relegated music to a more intimate plane. And I think I’m fine that way.
But music is very much present in your painting, isn’t it?
Yes, it’s implicit from the thematic point of view, in the rhythm, the harmony, the movement...
At one point you had your own art gallery in Portugal. How did you manage to achieve this, considering the difficulties Africans have moving about in the Portuguese artistic milieu?
It was a good experience, but short-lasting, as Portugal entered a financial crisis, and when there’s a crisis, things related to art are the first to be cut. The gallery’s main objective was to create a space to dignify Cape Verdean culture and, by extension, African culture. I would display my works and those of other African artists and, in third place, those of Portuguese and other European artists. It was a gratifying experience, despite the hardships, because, as you know, a gallery requires a lot of money, art isn’t something that sells every day. But I didn’t do this based on money, I managed to reach my objective, which was bringing together good African artists in that space and making the Portuguese public and others go there. Swedes, Danes, and other Europeans also went there often. I made that gallery a little of what Kaza d’Ajinha is here: making it a space for conviviality, and soon people would begin calling to be invited to the openings, which was very, very gratifying.
Since you mentioned Kaza d’Ajinha, let me ask you what led you to move back to Cape Verde after so many years outside the country?
Well, this was already a part of my plans when I went to Portugal. I never intended to emigrate. I left here to study and my intention was to return as soon as I completed my studies. But after finishing my studies came the problem of having to find a space in the artistic world and dedicate myself professionally to painting and, at that point, Cape Verde did not offer the conditions to do this. So I decided to establish my base there. But from the beginning my intention was always to return to Cape Verde. The problem was when. I always reacted to this from an emotional point of view, and as my anguish increased I began to feel that the time to return was drawing near. Because even though I was never mistreated in Portugal - on the contrary - I don’t identify entirely with spaces outside of Cape Verde. So as I got older I began to feel that I really needed to be in my place of origin and I began working to make this possible.
How was this dream born? What does Kaza d’Ajinha consist of?
Again, Kaza d’Ajinha was born from the inside out, the same way my works of art are born. It’s something I felt the need to do in order to feel satisfied from an emotional point of view. There building was already there - the house was practically abandoned after my parents’ death - and behind it was an entire history of conviviality, a lot of joy and solidarity that were disappearing with the house. So I thought I could recover all of this, re-connect the ties of friendship and fraternity with by siblings, cousins and friends who’d passed through here. So first I tried to create the conditions to recuperate the house, trying to maintain its spirit. This meant keeping the building the way it was, as much as possible, and adapting it to what I wanted to do: activities linked to my profession and to things my parents did. My father was a musician, he played violin, and my mother was a housewife who dedicated herself to cooking, she was a wonderful candy maker. The other side has to do with the experience of conviviality that we had here. At some points, as many as 20 people lived in this house. My father was a public servant and went to various islands where he made friends, so many of these friends’ children who’d come to study in São Vicente stayed here in this house. This ensured that there were always a lot of us here, always with a very good atmosphere. I don’t remember there ever being arguments or disturbances here! Everyone who came through here shares this impression. So there was already the potential for good things to recover and I invested in this perspective, I wanted to create a space where we could do something traditional, something specific to Cape Verde and where people feel satisfied from an emotional point of view. So I organized this space as a house, not as a commercial space. I don’t live off this, I live for this, and to a certain degree I am the one who supports this because it’s part of me. I think that this idea is becoming accepted little by little. I want people to feel at home. There are no counters, no barriers, things that can make people uncomfortable. Everything related to money is relegated to a second plane, albeit in a correct manner. Kaza d’Ajinha is a space for camaraderie and culture, where we try to recuperate elements of Cape Verdean tradition without ever closing the door on modernity, and where we try to promote human contact. So we have the Bejama Room (my father was named Benjamim, but for us he was Bejama), which is a space for exhibits, musical concerts, meetings, conferences, etc. We have the Ajinha Eatery, which is dedicated to my mother and to the culinary arts, a space for selling fine arts materials (something I had always intended to do ever since I left Cape Verde, because the main difficulty Cape Verdean visual artists face in the development of their work is precisely the lack of materials to work with), a space dedicated to graphic design (which has to do with my academic training) and a framing studio, where we make frames.
Here in Mindelo, developing this cultural project, are you also continuing your career as a visual artist?
Yes, of course. I still hold exhibits both here and abroad. After I moved to Cape Verde I schemed my life in another way: instead of being based in Portugal, now my base is here, and I do work abroad based here. To sell art you don’t have to be in the place where it sells best. I can very well work in Cape Verde, and I prefer to do so, considering the themes of my work. I feel the need to pain in order to survive as a person, which is very important. But I cal also say that Kaza d’Ajinha was conceived as complementary to my activity. In other words, it was organized to respond to my desire to multiply activities. I like to diversify my activities - painting, music, sculpture, design, furniture creations, photography, etc. - and a space like Kaza d’Ajinha allows me to be constantly changing activities, and this way I don’t get tired, I don’t become repetitive or get stuck in monotonous schemes.
Lura
“Everything changed after I saw Cape Verde for myself”
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=902 02/10/2004
The daughter of Cape Verdean parents - her father is from Santiago and her mother from Santo Antão - Lura was born in 1975 in Lisbon, and dreamed of being a dancer from an early age. It was in the process of pursuing her dream that Lura almost accidentally discovered the power of her voice while taking dancing lessons with São Tomean singer Juka, who is also a dancer. When her dance instructor invited her to sing on his CD, Lura thought Juka was crazy, since at the time her voice was rough and deep from all the shouting she did at school soccer matches. Juka’s invitation resulted in Lura’s first recording experience, and she liked what she heard. And this experiment ended up deciding her career. But before embarking on the path of music, she was a swimming instructor, and a good one according to her, who took her profession very seriously. At the time, she was twenty years old. But as Lura herself confesses, something was missing, and that something was music. It was then that she took hold of the reigns of her destiny. Her third CD, Di Korpu ku Alma, confirms what writer José Eduardo Agualusa said of her: “Her students lost a great teacher. The rest of us who listen to her now have come out winning.”
Interviewed by Kaunda Simas
A Semana: Di Korpo ku Alma (Body and Soul) is a rather suggestive title for an album. Is it really a reflection of what’s inside you?
Lura: Yes. This record was made with a great deal of dedication. Each song was chosen rigorously, I fell in love with every track and I gave myself completely to them, thus the title. At first I tried to choose the name of one of the songs for the title of the CD, but it didn’t sound right, because it was more than that, which is why I decided it should be Body and Soul.
A S: How long was this album in preparation?
Lura: It took a little over a year to choose the songs. One would come along, and then another, things started happening, and when I had all the songs, that’s when things started moving more quickly, although even so they moved kind of slowly, because I live in Lisbon and we recorded in Paris. Before I went to Paris, I was in São Vicente for fifteen days for pre-production. That was the first contact the musical producer Fernando Andrade and the musicians Nando and Káku had with the songs.
A S: With this album, it’s evident that you’ve grown as an artist. Does this have to do with your maturing as a Cape Verdean? Have you gained a greater consciousness of your Cape Verdeanness?
Lura: Exactly. It began the moment I got to know Cape Verde. Because before I had the kind of confusion that exists in the head of someone who was born in Portugal and has listened to American, European and Portuguese music her entire life. It’s a very big mixture and it gave me a culture different from that of my parents - there was I time I considered Cape Verdean culture as my parents’ culture, my parents’ language, but little by little it came to be mine as well. This record really is the fruit of a maturing process that began to accelerate beginning when I got to know Cape Verde for myself and come into contact with my culture, my country, my origin. My contact with my family here was very important because I grew as a woman, as a person.
A S: You have these two sides, one parent from Santiago and another from Santo Antão, and on the CD one can see that you’ve opted more for the music of Santiago. Does this have to do with Orlando Pantera and the impact he’s had on the music of Cape Verde?
Lura: It has to do with my falling in love with the way Pantera writes, with his style. I like it very much, I became impassioned by that style. Everyone’s told me I fit well into this style, that I really must be a daughter of Santiago, and this even caused an argument between my mother and father. My mother says, “no, she’s just done this by chance,” those kinds of arguments that parents have between people from Santiago and from the rest of the islands. And my father would say “No, but she does this very well,” and then my mother would say “Ah, if she did something from Santo Antão she’d probably do it well too.” You know, those things parents do. But I think it’s a little bit of this, I think I really did put on the clothes and they fit me, but I like this style, it’s a style with a lot of strength, with a lot of Africanness! More than just Cape Verdean, this style is very African, I hope to continue with it, but I also hope to research all of Cape Verde’s musical genres... My intention is to show the world that Cape Verde is much richer than people imagine. And since I’m a singer and a performer, I can fulfill this role perfectly.
A S: Did you ever meet Pantera personally?
Lura: No, I never got to meet him, but I’ve been told I was introduced to him once and I was crushed. The first time I came to Cape Verde I didn’t know anyone at all, I didn’t know who was who, after I recorded “Nha Vida,” and it was one of my first contacts with Crioulo - I had sung a song in Crioulo, but I didn’t even speak it very well, I could only sing because it was already written down. They introduced me to him and I understood the introduction as if they’d introduced me to John or Jim or anyone else who’d wanted to meet me. “OK, it’s nice to meet you, excuse me, see you later,” the usual formalities. Later I commented to the person who introduced us, “what a shame I never got to meet Pantera,” and he said, “What do you mean you never met him? I was the one who introduced you to him!” I was stunned. Much later, three or four years later, I began to notice Pantera’s work, I was anxious to hear something of his, but we were never in the same place, I was in Lisbon and I heard that he was in Cape Verde. When I was in Cape Verde I’d be told that he was in Lisbon and I never had the chance to see one of his concerts in person. It was a shame, and when I found out that he had died, I felt responsible - just like all other Cape Verdean singers who wanted to perform good, solid, culturally rich pieces - for continuing on wiht his work. That’s why I felt a very strong desire to do what I did.
A S: Does the song “Nha Vida” have a story to it? The lyrics are very suggestive....
Lura: (laughs) Hmm, this question’s a little complicated, it’s embarrassing. Actually at the time it really did have to do with a crush I had, I was eighteen and I fell madly in love with someone. I based it on real events.
A S: Was it platonic or did this person correspond to your feelings?
Lura: (more laughs) He corresponded, but later it ended, you know... It was a crush and it ended, and that was it. Today we’re very good friends, we laugh a lot at what happened.
A S: In a musical universe as rich as Cape Verde’s, there are very few female composers. You have proven to be one of them, which makes things more interesting. How did you discover this creative side? Compared to your side as a singer, which do you prefer? Is one harder than the other?
Lura: I think it may be harder to compose, because singing is spontaneous, and inspiration isn’t so spontaneous, it’s something that emerges at certain times. I can make an effort and people can ask me to write something, but if it doesn’t come from my soul I can’t say it’s going to touch people. I like to write things that touch people, that say or teach something important to people, whatever it may be. So it’s a little harder to compose, it’s more serious, and it carries a greater responsibility.
A S: So do you intend to continue composing?
Lura: Yes, even today I was composing something, I was sleeping and I woke up with a melody in my head and began writing. I’ve got a thousand little things that I haven’t yet finished.
A S: Are we going to be the first ones to hear it?
Lura: (Laughing) No, it’s still nowhere near ready.
A S: Did you ever imagine that this record would have the impact it’s having and will continue to have, since the CD is still being promoted?
Lura: When you put a lot of effort into something, something tells you that all that effort is going to have been worth it. I don’t know how, and I’m not referring exactly to success, it might not be that, but what’s important is that we feel that passion for what we’re doing, and if the rest comes along, great, and if it doesn’t, well, that’s life. That’s how I felt with this work, it’s what I felt with “Nha Vida,” I had faith, although it was my first record. I was invited to sing, I was still studying, and when I told people at school that I was going to record an album, they told me, half jokingly, “hey, we’ve got ourselves an artist here,” but deep down I had faith. Particularly with “Nha Vida,” which ended up a hit. The same thing happened with this record. I was in love with every song I’d chosen, so I’m glad it’s being well received. I’m happy about this, and I’m very happy for Orlando Pantera. Wherever he is, I hope he’s happy, and I hope I haven’t done anything he wouldn’t have liked with his songs. But I also think of him as if he were alive. His wife told me this once, that he’s alive, and I feel the same way, that he’s not dead and that he’s following this success, which obviously isn’t just mine. It’s Orlando Pantera’s as well, without any doubt.
A S: Regarding this CD and the others, what was done differently, in addition to the change in style?
Lura: I don’t know, I think it has a lot to do with growth, like I said, with maturity. It has to do with the passion for the work we’re doing, because it’s not enough just to like something, it has to be much more than that, it has to run in your veins, you have to breathe what you do.
A S: Do you think it might also have something to do with your partnership with Djô da Silva?
Lura: Yes, this project is being very well taken care of by Lusafrica. They believed in me, in this project, and they’ve been very close to me, we’ve worked with a lot of effort. I’m very happy to be working with them. We’ve been together for more than three years, and we’ve grown together and gotten to know each other. I am very thankful to Djô da Silva in particular, because by myself I wouldn’t be doing even a third of what’s being done in terms of promotion. And if a work isn’t promoted, no one knows it exists. I’m very thankful to Lusafrica, to their efforts and to the credibility they’ve given me.
A S: How did this partnership come about?
Lura: I was invited to work with Lusafrica quite a few years ago. At the beginning I was a little hesitant, but then I decided I really did want a serious career, and Lusafrica is a company that’s proven in the market that it works hard, so I signed and we began working.
A S: What are your musical influences?
Lura: I have a lot of influences. I listen to everything, I can’t even say who my favorite artists are. There are several. They go from Gospel to jazz, and include soul, African styles, Cape Verdean music. This explains why at the beginning I was a little confused about what to do, what style to adopt... until I had the fortune of getting to know Cape Verde. The tours with Cesária Évora also taught me that on an international level it’s very important to show what’s yours. If you show people what is yours, you show it much more truthfully than you would other styles. Imagine me singing soul music, I can do it very well, but there are people who were born into it who can do it much better than I can... It’s more a question of the truth of things, the origin of things. Being ourselves is different from being behind a mask.
Interview: Lura
http://www.asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=193 19-01-04
What projects do you have for the future?
For the near future I’m working on an acoustic CD, to be released between late 2003 and early 2004.
What are your professional goals?
To be a singer recognized throughout the world.
What irritates you?
When I’m hungry! I get extremely irritated and impatient!
What value does love have for you?
Love is more valuable than all good things. It’s the emotion we all seek to feel for someone and that we want others to feel foe us as well. Sometimes people live only in the hope of someday being loved!
What kind of care do you take with your image?
There are some basic steps I take. Nothing special. I just try to dress and present myself as best I feel at any given moment.
Do you consider yourself sexy?
I don’t like the expression “sexy” all that much. I just know that I really like the way I am and I’m pretty self-confident!
Do you consider yourself prejudiced?
No.
What makes you most pleased in life?
Singing, eating well (in terms of quality), celebrating and dancing with friends.
Are you happy?
Yes.
What’s your sign?
Leo.
Your favorite clothing?
Modern and feminine.
Cuisine?
Portuguese and Cape Verdean.
Book / writer?
The Trago Family / Germano Almeida
Movie / actor?
Face Off / Wesley Snipes
Album / singer?
Dance with my Father / Luther Vandross
Musical genre?
Almost everything.
With whom would you like to perform a duet?
Alcione and Cesária Évora.
Composer?
Orlando Pantera
Philosophy (phrase, saying...)?
“After me will come those who make good on me.”
Do you believe in God?
Yes.
Misgivings?
None, I live the day.
Dream?
That’s my personal secret.
Favorite place for vacation?
Wherever there are good beaches.
Whom would you take with you to a deserted island?
My love.
Who would you leave there?
No one.
What can’t run out in your kitchen?
Milk, cereal, corn, chocolate cookies, tea.
Date and place of birth?
Lisbon, July 31, 1975
Three things that are socially incorrect for you?
Gentlemen not giving priority to ladies.
Throwing garbage on the ground.
Smoking in public places, especially restaurants.
Your biggest defect? Quality?
My greatest defect is laziness. My greatest quality is sincerity.
What’s the greatest praise anyone has ever given you?
“Lura, my son will only go to sleep with your music!!!”
If you had to be an animal, which would you choose and why?
A panda, because it’s all fluffy, warm and has the two colors I like most: black and white.
What’s your favorite animal?
Monkey
Luciano Chantre, the artist of popular festivals
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=13163 06.11.2005
The author of a number of compositions, Luciano Chantre has also inscribed his name in the history of Cape Verdean culture as a dedicated drummer and promoter of popular festivals.
by: João Almeida Medina
At 17 years of age, he taught himself to play on a homemade ukulele. He released his first LP around the time Cape Verde won independence from Portugal, and now, 30 years later, he has announced that he will record a second album. Luciano Chantre celebrated his 70th birthday last week with music and charm in an event carried out in the center of the town of Ribeira Grande, on the island of Santo Antão. But although he was in good spirits during his conversation with A Semana, he expressed his outrage with the fact that a number of different individuals have claimed authorship of several of his songs, such as the morna “Seis one na Tarrafal.”
Several days ago you celebrated your 70th birthday with an open-air party, as is to be expected from an artist of popular festivals. How long ago did music enter your life?
I began playing when I was 17, and the ukulele with which I made my first sounds was built by me, with a piece of wood and some cans. I taught myself to play with this homemade instrument, but later I bought a real ukulele for 45 escudos. And the first time I went out into the streets to play in public was during Carnaval festivities in the 1950s. And from then on I just kept playing for my people here in Ribeira Grande, in Ponta do Sol, in Paúl and in São Vicente.
In addition to playing, did you already sing at that time?
Yes.
When did you begin composing?
The first song I wrote was “Oh m’nina bo ta mut fitera,” in 1957. Two years later I wrote the morna “Quand one novo tá entrá” and in 1960 I write another morna, “Mim seis one na Tarrafal.”
Were you imprisoned at Tarrafal?
Yes.
For political reasons?
No, I was wrongly accused of having raped a girl. And I say wrongly because almost a year after I was jailed it was discovered that the girl was a virgin. These were the injustices of the time, but it all belongs to the past now.
After this episode in your life you emigrated.
That’s right. In 1964, I left for Europe, and there I continued with my artistic activities. I played at several places in France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, etc. In 1970 I wrote the morna “Cabo Verde k’m nasce,” and as other people had been recording my songs, I decided to record my own record so people could get to know me as a composer and a singer.
And was that how the LP Ribeira Grande, your only record up to the present, came about?
Yes. The record had eight songs, five of them written by me.
In all of your songs there is a bit of social critique, don’t you think?
Very much so. I make my observations of social occurrences and then I try to make my songs portray reality.
Has music ever helped you in amorous endeavors, as often occurred in times past?
On the first day I went out to play in public I got myself a girlfriend (laughs).
And the idea for the party in the center of Ribeira Grande to commemorate your 70th birthday came from whom?
The initiative was entirely mine. I had some help from the Ribeira Grande municipal chamber, but I was the one who paid for the musicians to come from São Vicente and the expenses with the stage and sound equipment. I wanted to celebrate this important day for me with my friends, young people, colleagues and the people of Santo Antão. It was a beautiful night for festivities, in which younger people got to know my songs. And I was happy with the massive presence and excitement of the youths while I was on stage. Even so, I found it disrespectful that after writing a letter to the Minister of Culture, Manuel Veiga, inviting him to be present at the event, he didn’t even bother to send a reply to my invitation, in spite of everything I’ve done in favor of our country’s culture.
Did you feel you were being given less prestige because of this?
Not necessarily. I just would have liked him to at least have responded to my friendly gesture.
Getting back to your artistic life, how many compositions have you made up to the present?
In addition to the three I’ve already mentioned, there’s also “Vida Boa,” “Nho Pov,” and five more. So there are about ten.
And how many of these compositions have been recorded by other artists?
Armindo Pires recorded “Quand one novo ta entrá.” I should say that in most cases, when they record my songs, they say they’re popular melodies. And this angers me because I have proof that I wrote them.
But have you ever taken anyone to court for this?
No, but I had to record them on an LP so that people would know I wrote them.
But in the case of the morna “Mim seis one na Tarrafal,” many people claim authorship.
Yes, I realize this. But I have proof that I wrote it. There are people in Chã de Pedras, in São Vicente and abroad who can testify to this.
And in what exact context did the emblematic “Mim seis one na Tarrafal” emerge?
I had been wrongly imprisoned, as I explained, and with this song I pleaded with the people to open the doors of the prison so that I could go see my mother, whom I missed. It was a morna dedicated to my mother and to all of the mothers of Cape Verde who were unable to see their sons who were imprisoned.
When was the LP Ribeira Grande recorded?
In 1975, in Luxembourg, around the time of Cape Verde’s independence.
Why haven’t you recorded any more LPs since then?
The truth is that I don’t live from music and I only recorded it, like I said, so that people would know I was the author of the songs. But I have plans to record a CD or DVD in the near future.
Will this new record include only songs that you composed?
I might re-record one or two songs from the LP Ribeira Grande, but I’ll also put in a few new songs. And why not record other people’s songs?
I remember that once I read that while you were living abroad you won a singing competition in Germany, in which people of various different nationalities competed. Was this an important event in your life?
There were 17 contestants from various different nations and I won first place. I still have a clipping from a newspaper at the time with the title, “Luciano Chantre, the king of Cape Verdean music.” And obviously I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.
And haven’t you ever belonged to a musical group?
I had a group at one point in France, but we abandoned the project right after the first concert because of interference by others. But I continued to sing in various places, accompanying artist friends because I only like to perform with people who really know how to play.
But in addition to composing, singing and playing stringed instruments, you’re also a well-known drum player on Santo Antão.
Yes, in fact my drum group and I have been to the United States to represent Cape Verde, and we did not disappoint: we came in second place out of 35 nations. This took place in 1995 in Washington, in the Smithsonian festival. But we’ve also been to the Netherlands, Belgium, Praia, São Vicente, and we’ve participated in practically all of Santo Antão’s religious festivals.
Why don’t you participate in the drumming competitions anymore?
When I returned to Cape Verde in the early 1990s, I formed a group, and for seven consecutive years we won the drumming contests in the Paúl religious festivities. But we’ve stopped participating because we received threats that we’d be stoned if we won the contest one more time. I also realized that fraud would have occurred in the attribution of prizes, so from then on I decided to merely participate in the festivities. I go there, I play a little and go back home.
Lutchinha Leite: A woman of arms
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=700 14/08/2004
Those who know her since her childhood say that she’s always been known to sing "Castaninha," the morna written by her father and dedicated to her mother. The song is also the title of her first solo CD after a number of years performing. She’s Lutchinha Leite. Lutchinha resides in the United States, where she works in Brockton, Massachusetts’ Cape Verdean Association. But she also finds the time to sing, compose - the CD she has just produced contains two of her compositions - and play on the Cabo Girls soccer team, which participates in the local Pawtucket, Rhode Island league. In this interview with A Semana Online, she is revealed to be a staunch defender of Cape Verde’s musical traditions, and says she has always dreamed of a solo career and hopes one day to be able to live in Cape Verde.
Interviewed by Teresa Sofia Fortes
Lutchinha, tell us how it was that music came into your life. It was a family "heritage," wasn’t it?
Yes, I’ve been singing since I was seven, first with my father, and later with the friends who would go to his house. And there’s even a man who says that I’m his musical daughter, Noel from Boa Vista. Along with my father, he was one of the first people to invite me to sing at parties. I would also sing sometimes in the shows that would take place at the Eden Park movie theater during the Todo Mundo Canta competitions, which I won here in São Vicente, and later went to represent the island at the finals in Praia. I sang here and there and never stopped. Singing is a great pleasure for me, and like one of the songs on my CD says, music is entwined in my veins. Of course, today things are different, before music had another type of expression. Now things are more evolved, but at the time it was more marking, unforgettable, because if I hadn’t begun at that time I wouldn’t be here today, even though I still don’t have a professional career. But I hope to have one some day.
How did you feel when you were named one of the winners of the Todo Mundo Canta singing competition, at a time when the event held great weight in the Cape Verdean cultural scene and revealed some of our great names in music?
Managing to come in second among all of those people who sing so well - Manuel d’Novas, Djô di Loi - and with good compositions, was something that moved me very much.
At the time were you already thinking about becoming a professional singer?
Well, I saw music as more of a pastime, but of course, deep down, I thought, "who knows, maybe someday I’ll make music my profession." It’s just that I never had the opportunity. In music you have to get that opportunity, that helping hand that pulls us up into the limelight.
Did you feel that after Todo Mundo Canta, your career in São Vicente and in the rest of the country gained any ground?
I think so. After participating in and winning Todo Mundo Canta, I represented Cape Verde in an event in the Soviet Union and in Portugal, not counting the occasions when government delegations would come here.
Sometimes in the initial phases of their careers, many singers reveal a preference for foreign musical genres, such as Brazilian, American or Jamaican music. Was this the case with you as well, or have you been more attached to morna and coladeira since the very beginning?
I’ve always been and will always be more attached to the music of Cape Verde. Of course we have to evolve, but I’ve always sung mornas and coladeiras because the morna, especially, moves me deep in my heart. We have other musical styles as well - coladeira, batuko, funaná - but I wouldn’t trade morna for any of them.
Do you feel like you’re alone in this "mission" to love and preserve Cape Verde’s music, in particular the morna?
A little. Young people, for example, don’t show much attachment to morna anymore. And with the introduction of zouk, which is more commercial and perhaps lets you "swing" a little more, things only got worse.
But do you feel that the morna is running the risk of disappearing?
I don’t think that there’s necessarily a danger, because there’s always someone to give continuity to the work that others have begun. But many more have to appear, mainly women, to sing and divulge our music.
You really can note that most of our artists are men. There are still very few women. Do you think it could be fear of revealing their souls to the world?
I don’t know, but it’s not good that they don’t come out to show that they can sing and compose very well too. If you know how to sing, you have a gift, you can’t hide it. Of course there are circumstances that often turn into veritable barriers that refuse to let us proceed, but we can’t give up. For me music is life, it’s everything. You can take everything away from me, minus my daughters and music. It’s inside of me. If I’m tired or sad I start mumbling a little song and before I know it I’m already singing my lungs out, and I don’t feel tired or sad anymore.
How did you end up in the United States? Is emigration inevitable for Cape Verdeans?
Ah, how can I explain this to you?! I didn’t even know I was going, but my father decided to send me to the United States and I had to go.
And how did you feel about this?
At the beginning it was extremely hard. Here I lived with my parents, I had a job and my wage was for my own personal use. When we’re here, we imagine a United States that is completely different from reality. To begin with, the climate is different. I left in the month of February, one day after Carnaval, with my heart full of nostalgia, leaving behind a pleasant warmth. And when I arrived there, it was incredibly cold, which really shocked me. The other main problem was the language. Even though I’d studied English at school, I had a hard time because the English they speak in the United States is very different from what we learn in school, which is closer to the English that’s spoken in England. For this and other reasons, I wanted to return to Cape Verde. But I gradually adapted and now I’ve made America my place of residence.
Did music help you bear the difficult times?
Yes, very much so. At the time I arrived in the United States, a cousin of mine, Miquinha (Amílcar Évora), founded the group Os Pecos along with some friends, among them Gau Salgado. So every week we’d perform at weddings, baptisms or other types of parties.
Based on what I know, the Cape Verdean community in the United States has many artists, musicians and singers. But most of them are unknown in Cape Verde. Why do you think this happens?
I don’t know. But it’s wrong. I don’t know whose fault it is, the artists who are there or the people who remain here. But I get the impression that the country isn’t giving due recognition to some of the artists residing in the States. There are good musicians there, good singers, even though now a few have appeared who only seem to record commercial songs, but there are those who work with seriousness and dignity. Zé Timas, César Lima, the boys from Jam Band, Calú Bana and many others are investing heavily in our music and they should be given greater value. A while ago I was invited to perform at Dartmouth College and the public was made up almost exclusively of Americans. This left me a little sad.
Why do these things happen?
I don’t know the true reason for this lack of interest, but I think that we artists have to impose ourselves more. No one else will do this for us. And in my opinion, there’s a tendency to give more value to Cape Verdean artists residing in Europe than to those who are in the United States. I’m going to release my first solo CD, Castanhinha, soon, and wait to see what people’s reaction is. Maybe I’ll discover why those of us in the United States are paid less attention to.
And since you yourself have referred to this, tell us how your first solo CD came about.
It was very challenging. Thank God I had the support of my husband Roger, of my parents and relatives and some friends. Zé Timas, for example, believed in me and I placed my work in his hands. I paid for all expenses myself, but I’m not sorry. It took a long time to be ready because I only recorded on Sundays - and sometimes I’d spend an entire month without showing up at the studio - because with a professional life, some work during the day, others in the afternoon and others at night, and it’s not easy to bring together all those musicians. I’m happy, satisfied, because I’m the producer of my own work and the feedback I’m getting has so far left me very happy.
If you wanted to sell someone Castanhinha, how would you convince them it’s a good CD?
Well, this CD was made with a great deal of love and care, and it was made for me and my Cape Verdean people. It has good compositions and it’s very pleasant to listen to. Whoever buys it will certainly not be sorry. So buy Castanhinha.
And when will it be released in Cape Verde?
The CDs are scheduled to arrive on August 17. I’ve got my fingers crossed hoping for them to get here on time so I can promote it, because it’s about time.
Was your decision to take on all production expenses of your first solo CD personal or just pure necessity?
It was a personal option. I’ve got a personal trait which is that if I ask you for something once and you tell me no, I won’t ask again. I know I shouldn’t be like that, because when we want something we have to struggle for it, be persistent and never give up. But I decided to do everything at my own cost, and at least I know that it really is mine, 100% mine. What’s more the market isn’t easy. I spoke with a few people, but they’re only interested in producing music that’s released today and sells tomorrow. And the music that comes out today and sells tomorrow is zouk. But this isn’t my style. I prefer things from my land, so I opted to do this CD by myself. Whether I win or lose, it’s fine.
As far as I know, in this CD you don’t limit yourself to the role of singer and producer, but you also compose. How did you discover this artistic facet in yourself?
It was spontaneous. In the case of the song "Tcham cantá," I was sitting at work one day, slightly bored, and I started to write. At the beginning, things weren’t coming out very well, and I tried several other times until I managed to write the lyric, which I then took to Zé Timas for him to put to music. Those who’ve heard it liked it, which makes me happy. I made an another composition about one of the concerns I have - the street children in our country. It makes me sad to see how they live. I have children and it hurts me to see them abandoned. Just yesterday I saw some of them, sleeping on the ground, with no shelter whatsoever. Like the song that I write says, deep down in their eyes we can see that they have hopes for a better life, but for this to happen someone has to appear who will take care of them. I gave the song to Nando, who filed off the rough edges. My initial idea was to write a song for my daughters to sing, but I ended up doing at a trio with the two of them.
And are you willing to take up your pen again and show your composer’s side?
Yes, I think I’ll continue. All you need is the necessary concentration and to be in an environment conducive to the emergence of inspiration.
There in the United States, you work in the Brockton Cape Verdean Association. What is this side of your life like?
I’ve been working at the Cape Verdean Association for a year. Working with Cape Verdeans isn’t easy, but it is gratifying. The association is doing good work, although many don’t recognize the work that so few people are doing with so much sacrifice. And it’s got its own headquarters, which in itself is very good and avoids a lot of problems. I started there as a receptionist, then I went on to work with the elderly - seeing if they need anything, taking them to the doctor - but now, after I return, I’ll be working in another sector with my colleagues Rui and Alberto - a big hello to them - on social issues. We have a lot of problems within the community, for example domestic violence, sexual abuse, among others, and we serve as a link between the American authorities and the Cape Verdeans who don’t speak English. My colleague Rui and I also carry out therapy work. It’s a new job that I’m going to give all of myself in. And it satisfies me when I help someone get something he or she needs.
But in addition to the work you do with the Cape Verdean Association and your career as a singer, I know you play soccer as well. Tell me about this.
(laughs) You know, over in America we live a very stressful life. And so to relieve stress and do gymnastics we get together on the weekends. Our team is called the Cabo Girls, although we’re not girls anymore, as we’re all married women with children. We practice Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays after work. Right now, we’re part of a soccer league - the Pawtucket soccer league - in which two or three other Cape Verdean teams participate, while all the others are Hispanic. Before I came to Cape Verde, we played against one of these Latino teams, and even though they were younger, we won 4 to 1. Before that we’d lost 2 to 1, but we also won another game by 10 to 0. You can see that we’re not all that bad. (laughs) Once a month we hold a big breakfast get-together and we have a lot of projects for the team. We have a good coach, Alcides, who’s from São Nicolau and who gives us a great deal of support. We’ve lost a lot of extra weight (laughs) and we forget our problems.
An unavoidable question - do you plan to return to Cape Verde to live?
Of course. Although life here is a little expensive, who wouldn’t want to come back here to live? There’s nothing like this peace of mind, living close to the sea, with warm water. I can’t come back now because my children are still small - the oldest one is 11, the middle one is 10 and the youngest is 4 - but when they’re all in college, why not? There’s nothing like living in our homeland.
Maria de Barros
http://www.mariadebarros.com
Maria has a voice drenched with soul, sincerity and romanticism that forms a
strong bond with any who hear her.
An invitation into the musical world of Maria de Barros requires an intriguing geography lesson. The sensuous singer, currently making her recording debut with a multi-faceted project aptly titled NHA MUNDO (My World), is a native of Dakar, Senegal in West Africa and lived for the first 13 years of her life in Nouackchott, Mauritania in northwest Africa. Her creative heart, however, lies in the culturally rich land of Cabo Verde, a former Portuguese colony located 350 miles off the coast of Senegal, the birthplace of her parents.
She uses colorful descriptions like "hospitable," "peaceful," "family oriented" and "hard work ethic" to describe her ancestral home, but it's the island's incredible melting pot of music — which includes everything from African and Portuguese to Argentinean and Cuban influences — that has always inspired her to set her heart on home.
Five-time Grammy(R) nominee Cesaria Evora, the “barefoot diva”, helped to place the music of Cape Verde on U.S. audiences’ musical map. Godmother to de Barros, Evora’s ongoing encouragement led to de Barros fashioning her own lively and vivacious interpretation of Cape Verdean music. Evora, the Queen of the Mornas, and de Barros, Queen of the Coladeiras paint a complete musical picture of this tradition-rich land.
"The title song talks about where I'm from, and it's my hope that everyone who listens feels that I've brought them into my world as a special guest," she says. "It's a happy, fun world. While Cape Verdean artists have often sung of the struggles of life in the islands, my childhood was wonderful and I want to show that positive side of life in Cabo Verde. My songs speak of yearning for home, of an immigrant returning with hope, going back to the homeland to contribute to its growth. The only song written on a different theme is Nao Nhu, which offers strength and encouragement to women.”
Sung mostly in the dialect of Portuguese Criolu, the 12 songs on NHA MUNDO draw from the many styles that became indigenous to Cabo Verde over the centuries. "Music of the world infiltrated Cabo Verde after the Portuguese discovered the islands in the 1400s," says de Barros. "The African influence came there during the slave trade, while over time people from other parts of the world settled there and brought along their musical influences." Djabraba Nha Terra Natal and Triste Gonia are mornas (equivalent to the American blues) written by her grandfather, Djedjinho; Riberonzinha and Nha Primero Lar are slow coladeiras, while Cabo Verde N'ot Era, Regresa, Mi Nada Um Ca Tem, So Um Melodia and Nha Mundo are midtempo and uptempo coladeiras (similar to a salsa); La Gloria Eres Tú is an old Cuban bolero, Nao Nhu a samba while Manha de Carnaval a Brazilian bolero.
On how she developed her love for music, de Barros says: "I remember as a child, my mother would sing beautiful Cape Verdean songs to us kids. I would sing along with her and felt something magical within me.
"The oldest of five kids, de Barros moved with her family as a teenager to Providence, Rhode Island, where her grandparents lived. At the time, New England had many communities of immigrants from Cabo Verde, and the teen singer performed with many bands featuring members from the homeland. Later, de Barros married and moved to Los Angeles, which exposed her to a potpourri of rhythms and enriching her musical experience. There, she developed a love for Latin music and soon thereafter started to sing in Spanish, one of the six languages that de Barros speaks (along with Portuguese, Portuguese Creole, French, French Creole, and English). At the same time, de Barros continued to perform on both coasts with old and new Cape Verdean musicians.
De Barros believes that the purpose of her music is to touch lives and see the smiles on the faces of her listeners when she is performing live. "It is my hope and sincere wish to expose people to the sensuality and joie de vivre that is the foundation of Cape Verdean life."
Maria de Barros: “Cape Verde is in my blood, heart and soul”
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=12786 22-10-05
Maria de Barros is the first Cape Verdean artist to sign a contract with the powerful Virgin label, taking the archipelago’s music to a previously unattained levels on the US market.
It is no surprise, then, that Maria de Barros was elected as a 2004 world music personality by the magazine Essence. The singer says she owes it all to the country of her mother and father. “Cape Verde is in my blood, heart and soul,” she assures.
Interviewed by: Teresa Sofia Fortes
You were born in Dakar, Senegal to Cape Verdean parents hailing from the island of Brava, and you’ve also lived in Mauritania and Providence, Rhode Island. In what way was Cape Verde a living reality in your life during this period?
When I was living in Mauritania, my parents spoke Crioulo with us at home, with me and my brothers. My mother would cook Cape Verdean dishes and we always listened to Cape Verdean music.
What musical genres and artists or groups do you usually listen to? Who is your favorite?
At the time, I was impassioned by Bana and Djosinha. They were the first Cape Verdean voices I had the opportunity to enjoy. I also loved to listen to the music of Voz de Cabo Verde.
At the time, did you think you would become a singer?
From what I remember, I always wanted to be a singer and to entertain people. I sang a lot when I was a child. My mother used to sing while we were at home and she taught me all of the old Cape Verdean songs, like “Tchapeu di padja” and many others.
Is singing a job or a mission for you?
I think that this is what I was born to do: sing. My mission in life is to touch people’s lives through music.
And when did you begin to regard this mission seriously, first as a amateur and then as a professional?
I’ve been singing for several years. I began with the Mendes Brothers and JammBand in the 1980s. But I wanted to embark on a solo career and in 2003 I decided to record my first album, Nha Mundo.
In an article published in the American magazine Essence last year, you said that if it weren’t for Cesária Évora you wouldn’t be where you are today. Why?
Cesária Évora is the person that encouraged me to record my first album. Every time she came to Los Angeles, she would ask me “Have you begun working on your record?” So one day, after so many promises, I finally decided to do it. And I’m very grateful to her for her encouragement.
As you’ve said, you live in Los Angeles, California, a city where the presence of Latin music is rather strong. Do Latin American genres influence your music?
I like all styles of Latin music, especially salsa. When I came to live in Los Angeles, I left my family and Cape Verdean music behind in Rhode Island. I really missed Cape Verdean music. What was closest to the Cape Verdean genres and was able to fill the void was Latin music. I think there’s a little bit of this influence in my music, but not much.
How do you define your music now? Is it Cape Verdean, or, as people like to say nowadays, world music?
I’m a person of the world because I was born in Senegal, and I’ve lived in Mauritania and the United States. I speak several languages but my music is from Cape Verde. I consider Cape Verdean music to be a music of the world because it contains influences from other rhythms in it. What happens in the United States is that they always put music from foreign countries into the “world music” category.
What people, musicians, singers, composers and others have been and continue to be important in your career?
There are so many people I admire and who’ve influenced me as an artist! Bana and Djosinha are definitely the two who contributed the most to my passion for Cape Verdean music. Djosinha is the best entertainer I’ve ever seen. I remember the first time I saw him perform, I was blown away. I wanted to be an entertainer like him. Bana has a magical voice and a unique style of singing mornas and coladeiras. Bana and Djosinha taught me that an artist has to perform from the heart. When we’re sincere we manage to establish a connection with the audience and win them over to our music.
Were you surprised by the praise your first CD Nha Mundo, and your second CD, Dança ma mi, received?
I was shocked with the reaction to both CDs. I put my heart and soul in these two projects and it was a dream come true to see the world’s incredible reaction to my recordings, including the Cape Verdean public. My producers, Kalu Monteiro, Djim Job and Argentinean Daniel Luchansky worked very hard so that both records would capture the vivacity and soul of the music of Cape Verde. I love them and thank them for everything they’ve done for me.
Is it important to be linked to a label as powerful as Virgin?
It was very important for me to sign with a major label because it opens doors to a much wider distribution through the United States and the world. And we did it, both of my CDs are selling well on the US market and they’re now being released in other parts of the world. By the end of the year, Nha Mundo and Dança ma mi will be on sale in stores in Cape Verde.
What is your greatest dream?
The first part of my dream is to take Cape Verdean music to the hearts of the whole world. I want the world to know Cape Verde, its people, its music and culture. The second part of my dream is to hold a tour in Cape Verde.
How many times have you been in Cape Verde?
I’ve visited Cape Verde twice. The first time was in 1988. At the time I visited the islands of Sal, Santiago, Santo Antão and São Vicente. The second time, in 2002, I sang at the Santa Maria music festival. I really miss Cape Verde.
When are you coming back?
I want to go there soon, because I want to invest in Cape Verde. I’d love to have a house there.
And as far as concerts are concerned, are you thinking about holding any?
I’m preparing a tour in Cape Verde. So, get ready, I’ll be there soon!
But in the meantime, how do you live Cape Verde in Los Angeles?
I’m proud of being Cape Verdean. Cape Verde has been a part of me since I born and it’s in my blood, heart and soul, and in my music. Viva Cape Verde.
Mayra Andrade
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=1940 19.03.2005
“I become more and more enamored with my home country as time goes by”
“Her country’s most beautiful export product (...) She has beauty, talent, repertoire and personality (...) that are often compared to those of Cesária Évora. Much has been said about her in Paris. The lovely Mayra, who, with her jazz-morna, coladeira and batuko, is already a major star, does not go unnoticed.” The praise heaped upon Cape Verdean singer Mayra Andrade, invited since early March to the Festival of Migrations, Cultures and Citizenship in Luxembourg, is so voluminous that it could fill this entire page. Mayra Andrade came to Luxembourg to sing and did not disappoint the 3,000-odd people in the public.
Her beautiful, deep and velvety voice, with which she conquered the gold medal in the Francophone Games singing contest in 2001 in Ottawa, Canada, her lovely face and her strong personality convinced the public, and the expression “future goddess of Cape Verdean music,” published recently on the site www.capdiscovery.com, is not an exaggeration. Find out more about this 20-year-old singer in the interview she gave to A Semana’s correspondent in Luxembourg, Henri Fischbach.
The articles about your career contained on your site (www.mayra-andrade.com) are full of praise for your voice and beauty. The correspondent of Ouest France compares you to the Cape Verdean diva Cesária Évora. What do you think of all this?
I feel honored, because Cesária is a great woman and even today very few people have managed to do what she has for Cape Verde. Of course, I never forget Amílcar Cabral, who represented us very well throughout the world and fought for our independence. But I really feel proud to be compared to Cesária Évora, whom I love.
You were born in Cuba, and you’ve lived in Cape Verde, Senegal, Angola and Germany. Now you live in Paris. Haven’t you ever felt the need to go out in search of your roots, to go back and live definitively in your country of origin?
I’ve never interrupted the contact I have with Cape Verde ever since I went to live there, from six years of age until I finished high school. In the last years I’ve traveled a lot, but I always return to my country every year. But Cape Verde isn’t some far-off country where I go to look for my roots. I carry my roots with me everywhere I go and take them with my on all my travels.
So could we conclude that you carry two cultures with you, one Cape Verdean and the other European?
No, because Cape Verdean culture itself is a mixture of African and European culture. I don’t feel divided between Europe and Africa. I feel totally Cape Verdean, with everything that entails. But I’m also open to other cultures that were a part of my upbringing as well. This is why I perform Cape Verdean music with various different influences, with African rhythms but also with jazz, Brazilian music and other genres.
Do you consider yourself a cultural ambassador of your country? What feelings do you have regarding your country of origin?
With regards to your second question, I can affirm that the more time goes by, the more enamored I am with Cape Verde. I have the opportunity to go back to Cape Verde twice a year, and every time I return to the island of Santiago, the island where my mother was born, I try to understand people’s way of life and interpret what certain words mean. All this shows me the depth of this culture. The more we get to know Cape Verdean culture, the more in love we become with the country. As far as being a cultural ambassador is concerned, I think that all Cape Verdeans are the ambassadors of their country in one way or another. Every person is an ambassador through the activities that he or she develops. Ambassador is a word that has been applied to our diva Cesária Évora, but every individual should also transmit as faithfully as possible the soul of the Cape Verdena people. I think that this is my mission as well, and the title that goes along with it is not important. Cape Verde is a small country, but an extremely rich one in terms of culture. I try to show another facet of Cape Verdean music that is still relatively unknown in the world.
Could you tell us a little about your projects for the future?
In the realm of music, I’m currently in negotiations with a number of labels. Soon I’ll record my first CD. I’ve also received proposals for films and musical comedies, but I still haven’t made all my decisions. I also intend to go back to college, which I put on hold to go on tour. I’d begun studying art, communication and language.
What are your impressions of Luxembourg?
The first time I came to Luxembourg I was only 10, so I didn’t remember what the country was like. At the time, I spent two days here and visited a lot of friends. This time, I came for a short time as well, and what’s more it’s very cold. I really think that I should get organized to come back one day and learn something about Luxembourg’s culture, which is also very rich and varied. People here are certainly greatly influenced by the proximity to other countries and by the fact that they speak many languages.
Did the Cape Verdean public participate in your concert?
It was wonderful. I always ask myself how the public is going to react to the concert, especially in terms of music, because there are various different facets. There’s the listening side, and if you’re singing in an auditorium, where people are sitting down, they pay much more attention to the lyrics of the songs. So I was asking myself, “how are people going to react standing up in such a large venue?” And I saw that the public was very cooperative and even danced on a few occasions. And the Cape Verdeans sang along with me. I was truly very pleasantly surprised.
Milena Tavares
By TXT Music Productions
Milena B. Tavares was born on the 14th of October 1975 in The Netherlands. When she was still very young she showed a great talent for singing, and at the age of seventeen she joined her first, unstructured band, to sing mainly at parties. When this fell apart she entered a group called 'Vantage".
Suzanna Lubrano the other lead singer from Vantage invited Milena to sing back up vocals on her solo album and that's when Milena got her first studio experience. When Vantage dismembered, Milena and her sister Nereida B. Tavares were invited to sing in a group named "Midnight" which also didn't last long. So Milena began performing back up vocals with the band "Splash", on tours.
They traveled the world including the USA, Angola, Mozambique, France, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, and Cape Verde. In 1995 she recorded a cover of "Hello" from Lionel Richie and sang lead-vocals on a Splash-original "Procura" (written by Grace Evora, Manu, and Milena herself) on the album Simplicidade. The audience loved these songs. Milena recorded her solo album Dor in 1996 while continuing her work with Splash.
Four tracks and two interludes on Dor were arranged by TxT. When the album was about to come out she was performing live in America. Shortly after it's release she got pregnant and decided to take some time off for her baby. Since then she recorded tracks for two more compilation CD's TxT Stars in 1998 and Glamour in 1999. She quit singing with Splash but managed to record another duet on a compilation CD Mobass in 1997, before her baby was born. She also has been busy recording her second solo album for about a year now, and hopes to have it finished very soon.
Singing on Suzanna Lubrano's debut album, "Sem bo nes mundo" was not quite what she expected. She learned a lot recording her first backing vocals for Suzanna and it opened some doors for her. One day, Jose Medina, (her brother and manager of Dina Medina, at that time) came to the studio while they were recording Sem bo nes mundo. Impressed by their work, he asked them to join "Splash", and so Milena did her first professional live performance in Holland with this band. It was a lot of fun and quite an experience for her. The groupmembers taught her a lot about performing live. On tour she had a lot of fun with Dina Medina, her friend and room mate.
Montecara
http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/artists/artist_page.php?id=3172
Montecara describes its musical style as Progressive Reggae. "With a pulsate beat and a melody of the natural reggae, we put all our heart and soul and embrace all musical genres. From Bach, with a brief passage to the hot African rhythms, a slightly touch of jazz music, the groovy style of funk, Ska, blues and the fundamental roosts of reggae. Each one of us brings a new culture to create a new environment. Where a harmony born, develops and rises to become Montecara. We are a continuous process of a new culture development."
The band sings in English and Cape Verdean Creole. Montecara decribes the meaning behind its name: "The name to this project was inspired on a mountain that exists in front of Laginha beach on the Island of San Vicent, Cape Verde. As the name suggests, in this mountain we are able to see a human face, in a deep state of contemplation and serenity.
When adopting “Montecara” as the name of our project, it fulfilled our being with such an impact that reached a higher dimension. Beyond our personal interest or our desire to play, it represents something to reach for. Inner serenity and peace of mind. It represents our way of life, a way of being in life, with the other and with ourselves."
Montecara's philosophy: "For many people the message in the reggae music is associated with happiness and joy. Nevertheless is important to remind that reggae music appeared as a way to fight oppression. It was the word for oppressed people to fight against tyranny and all the problems that surround them. We can compare music as a way of saying no…of saying yes…of expressing ourselves. The gathered of ideas that take our deeper breath and raise it to yield of freedom.
Our philosophy is established between the equilibrium of these visions. We believe that it is necessary to fight to feel well with ourselves and we also believe that we can not close our eyes to everything it surround us. But mostly be able to hear your inner you.
Although there exists to many problems in our “little world”, to us the major problem is inside each one of us. Daily we encountered different obstacles, but giving up to them is to feel a sensation of defeat. It is up to each one of us to fight each one problem and fears. Knowing how to listen to our hearts we might be able to climb over that mount, and we never know if one day we might gather on the top of that mountain, in a remote island, that embraces everything and is always watching." The musicians are:
Nelo: Vocals
Micas: Guitar/back vocals
Henrique: Keyboards/accordion/back vocals
Pipocas: Guitar
Pestana: Bass
Pantera: Drums
Armstrong: Saxophone Discography: Sol Que Te Queima As CordasBooking: Soul Entertainment Music Production Service
E-mail: soul_booking at yahoo.com
Morgadinho - “A question of inspiration”
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=12154 24-09-05
Morgadinho was one of the founders of the legendary Voz de Cabo Verde. After dedicating forty years of his life to the group, Morgadinho talks with A Semana Online about his impending retirement from the band. He also discusses his future and says that he still has much to give, the fruit of that thing known as “inspiration.”
Morgadinho and Voz de Cabo Verde have been, up until now, practically inseparable entities. You have, however, annou nced your retirement from the group. Did you make this decision as a person or as an artist?
I am an artist, but as a man I have my limitations. There’s a time when we have to stop, because our availability and our energy is no longer what it used to be. As such, we can’t go beyond our possibilities.
This represents a break with the group you helped create and promote in an incredible way.
Yes, but in a very natural way, without resentment. Voz de Cabo Verde was a very good experience, both on the musical and the personal level. Because we began very young, promoting a style in which we were pioneers. But time has gone by and I really think that I have to leave the group now.
Art, like any vocation, is something that comes from deep down and moves people. As this is something so fundamental, when does an artist realize the time has come to stop?
It’s something that shows in your state of spirit, in your predisposition and inspiration. All of us have our limits, and stopping, more than just a decision, is a necessity. Because you feel when the time has come. Things stop flowing so easily, your energy begins to falter, your availability to perform decreases, and you begin to feel a certain stress in relation to all this.
Nevertheless, there is talk of a new record by Morgadinho. Is this just speculation on the part of admirers or is it a concrete reality?
I actually had though about this some time ago, but later, when I was invited to participate in the re-launching of Voz de Cabo Verde, I had to put the idea aside for a while.
So we will still have a new record from you.
Yes. Right now I’m trying to construct a solid base for the record, considering the fact that some of the songs I’d composed with it in mind were channeled into the Voz de Cabo Verde project. So at the moment I’m concentrating on composing new songs.
Do have a date in mind for its release?
I’m not too concerned about that. This is a work of inspiration, so I can’t say for certain how long from now I may release it. It depends on feelings, which can be either slow or quick. Inspiration does not combine well with time limits.
Will this next work’s style be the same as always, or will there be revelations?
No, the melodical line will be the same. It will be a record of mornas, coladeiras, all of them characterized by that sentimental feeling that is so much our own. As a Cape Verdean, I want to continue to transmit our traditional melodies, because for me it’s important for us to show who we are as a people.
Is this a matter of authenticity?
I think so, in that we can only truly be authentic when we’re expressing our deepest selves. For example, I’ve composed boleros and ballads, but it’s not the same thing. Take morna as an example, it transmits our sadness in departing, this feeling that I none way or another we always have present in us.
Are you nostalgic?
Yes, I am. Also because I live in France, and as such I’m an émigré with his heart in his homeland. Actually, if we analyze the compositions I made before I left Cape Verde, we’ll see that they’re different, precisely because of this distance that separates me from my country. But I think that, more than just a fatality, this aspect has become a matter of spiritual wealth for Cape Verdeans, fed by the moments we experience and that mark us in one way or another. Like the farewell musical sessions, for example. All of that ceremony, the sentimental weight it carries, the music, the friends, all of this gives origin to experiences that remain in one’s soul and later, in the case of artists, are reflected in their work.
And this experience marked you so much that it gave rise to the record Um Crioulo na França (A Cape Verdean in France).
This was my first solo record, which came out some 25 years ago. Um Crioulo na França tells the story of a Cape Verdean who leaves his country for the first time and comes up against the unfamiliar and feared old Europe. The experiences of his new life and his effort to adapt to a new reality are the record’s tonic.
What is your creative ritual, if we may call it that, like?
It’s all a matter of inspiration. The melodies arise, I take notes, I sit down at the piano, where I develop the song, and then I transpose it for wind instruments. This process is only possible because I have considerable musical training. Interestingly, I learned to play everything here in Mindelo’s Casa da Música, with the instructor there in that portrait [points to the wall], José Alves dos Reis.
What is it that attracts you so to wind instruments, particularly the trumpet, which is what you’ve accustomed us most to hearing you play?
Perhaps the dedication it requires. Here in Cape Verde there are a lot of people with musical training, especially in guitar, but really there are very few trumpet players. I think this occurs because the trumpet is an instrument that demands a lot of sweat, a lot of rehearsing, a lot of exercises. I think this could be a path to explore, if for no other reason than that it could open up new possibilities for Cape Verdean music and push it into other domains.
As you’ve done throughout your life.
At least as I’ve always tried to do.
Orlando Pantera: Cape Verdeans remember Pantera
http://asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=282 27/02/2004
Monday, March 1, marks the third anniversary of the passing away of Orlando Pantera, the musician and composer whose premature death days before leaving for Portugal, where he was going to record his first CD, put an abrupt end to the revolution he had begun in the traditional music of Santiago island. And if in his native country no official event will be held to remember the date, in the United States the magazine Fandata is organizing a celebration of the life and work of the legendary musician today, February 27.
“When I die before my time, resuscitate me without asking permission.” This is a verse in one of the compositions sung by Orlando “Pantera” Barreto, whose life ended prematurely on March 1, 2001. Adored by the needy children of Santiago island, with whom he carried out social work, admired by his students at the Pentagrama music school and beloved by all those who knew him, Orlando Pantera will be remembered today, February 27, in the Kretcheu Restaurant in the region of Brockton, Massachusetts, beginning at 8:00 pm local time.
“Various artists living in the United States will come together at the Kretcheu Restaurant to perform and talk about Orlando Pantera, an artist who revolutionized Cape Verdean music, especially batuko,” says Hermínio Furtado, the editor of Fandata, a magazine made by and for Cape Verdeans living in the US. The magazine is organizing the event, which, in addition to music, will include the screening of a video about Pantera showing performances by the composer and an interview in which he talks about the work he had been carrying out before his unexpected death.
In his native land, it is hoped that, as has been the case in previous years, a concert in memory of Orlando Pantera will occur in Praia’s Achadinha neighborhood, whose main street was baptized with the musician’s name.
Ramiro Mendes: “Culture could finance the State”
Interviewed by PEDRO MIGUEL CARDOSO
http://www.asemana.cv/article.php3?id_article=13875 03-12-05
What if there were a Minister of Music in Cape Verde? Ridiculous? Not for Ramiro Mendes, who, “to shake up the system,” declares himself “the Cape Verdean minister of music” in this interview.
More than just criticism, however, Ramiro Mendes points the way toward solutions - from a Cape Verdean lobby abroad to the involvement of the émigré community in the country’s cultural revolution. What’s more, Mendes calls for a 180 degree turnaround in the governments cultural policies.
You’re a major critic of the allegedly ad-hoc way the music business is managed in Cape Verde. What path does Cape Verdean music have to embark upon in order to gain the cultural industry dimension you’ve expressed your desire to see?
On the level of both professionalism and business, music in Cape Verde is somewhat homespun and experimental. We really lack a Cape Verdean cultural industry. Not because there’s no one that wants to set one up, but because there’s a major lack of education and information on the way music should be made and managed as a business. Because this art is one of the biggest businesses in the world, it moves a lot of money. Culture is the world’s greatest currency. As such, the greatest currency Cape Verde has isn’t the escudo or the euro, but rather its culture.
And how are transactions carried out here in Cape Verde?
They don’t exist. There is a lack of necessary involvement on the part of local businessmen and politicians. They confuse musicians in their struggle for affirmation with mercenaries. The Cape Verdean and African political class lacks cultural sensibility, which is reflected in the weak policies in this area.
As is widely known, culture, which the cabinet minister responsible for the sector calls an “uncut diamond,” received 1% of the general State Budget last year. Is this what you refer to as a “weak cultural policy”?
Yes, because it’s something that makes no sense. Obviously, you can’t make culture when you’re hungry. You don’t produce and you don’t satisfy your basic necessities. As far as I’m concerned, culture will have to be the utmost priority, because it’s the greatest wealth we have. It must be understood that culture is not just concerts in bars. It is, more than anything else, a question of identity, and also, why not, of business. I have no doubts that it is the most important motor for the social, political and economic development of any given nation. At least, it’s the easiest and cheapest way to promote a country like Cape Verde, which has in culture its main export.
The government justifies this option with the country’s lack of resources.
There are many ways in which the government could act other than through the State Budget. We’re not asking for them to give us handouts. In addition to direct financial support, there are areas in which the Executive could intervene, creating laws that defend culture or encouraging partnerships with entities, companies, multinationals, individuals who could finance cultural agents through tax benefits.
But Cape Verde does have a mecenate law.
I really don’t know too much about how this works here. But what I see on the ground is that people continue to beg for sponsorship, which is humiliating. This has to end if we want to make the leap. From now on we have to start talking about partnerships between businesses and record companies. We have product A, B or C, and the target is X. Together, we’ll promote the product and create a marketing campaign around it.
[Aldino Cardoso, of MB Records, who was present at the interview] The problem with the mecenate law in Cape Verde is that no one has benefited from it yet, because it’s not well enough known. The question is precisely what benefits businesses could reap as mecenates. As a result, potential financers still don’t believe in the law too much. Although it might have good intentions, it’s still a dead letter.
You mentioned the issue of contacts on an international level. What role could the Cape Verdean diaspora play here?
There is a lobby abroad that exists to meet this urgent need for exchanges between cultural agents of the entire world and Cape Verdean artists. However, here in Cape Verde we come up against many different problems, such as bureaucracy and moroseness in paperwork. With the pace things move at here and with the energy they need to move forward with anything, many émigrés who want to invest end up putting off their investments.
Do you think Cape Verdean culture could provide investors with a satisfactory return?
I don’t have a shadow of a doubt that if everyone involved invested in an effective, long-term manner in culture, it would end up financing itself and could even finance the State. What you need is to know how to do things. Let’s take just one example: if it weren’t for Bob Marley and reggae, right now you wouldn’t be writing the word “Jamaica” on that piece of paper. One single rhythm did what it did for that country. But just on the island of Fogo we have more than twenty styles of music, and in the entire country we probably have more than forty. If we managed to industrialize our culture, we would surely attract foreign investment in a spontaneous manner, without too much effort. Music has the capacity to do this. And we have potential. Because even in this ad-hoc way we deal with things, I’m certain that right now, at thie very moment, from Paris to Tokyo, from Sidney to Oslo, there are people listening to our music, talking about our country, eating out cachupa. All we need to do then is to be more forceful, to support cultural exchange. Politicians, for their part, can intervene on a diplomatic level, alongside everyone else in a concerted action. It’s not hard.
But this requires a change in mentality.
Of course, this is an issue that will have to be resolved immediately. Because Cape Verde won’t go anywhere until it resolves its cultural problem. Deep down, we need to embrace our identity in full. What disappoints me most in the midst of all this is that we Cape Verdeans have had more than sufficient evidence to believe in the strength of our culture. Because it was what made us politically free. As Amílcar Cabral said, we don’t have technology to fight with, but we do have our culture. But it seems like we’ve forgotten this. If one day we were free, we no longer are, at least not on a cultural level. Which is a shame.
Do you think that artists like Vadú, Tcheka or Lura could be the carriers of this seed of a revolution in culture and mentalities that you’re advocating?
What is happening in Cape Verde with this return to the roots is very strong. And yes, they are the new hopes who really are carrying out a new revolution in our traditional sound and being acknowledged abroad, such as is the case with Tcheka, with the RFI award. But these revolutions have always happened in Cape Verde: with Eugénio Tavares and the morna, with the electronic coladeiras of the 1960s, with the funaná of Katchás and later with Ferro Gaita, with Pantera’s batuko, etc.
With all of these revolutions, how come Cape Verdean music has yet to undergo this “industrializing boom”?
The problem is that these revolutions are not packaged to be sold. Cesária is an exception. The product “Cesária” was duly prepared, packaged and sold on the international market. Right now, other artists are also being prepared to follow this path. But in general, what is happening at the moment is that Cape Verde only has the capacity to present its product in the rough state, because our shortcomings are very clear. They begin with basic things, like simple guitar strings, and go on from there: we don’t have image promotion departments in our country, which is unique in terms of political stability and security in Africa, we don’t have effective lobbies, we don’t know what this marketing strategy thing is all about, we don’t have CD factories for domestic consumption, we don’t have international-level professional studios, where major musicians - like Madonna, who is a huge fan of Cesária’s - could come and record.
But in the case of studios and factories, they would have to be the result of private initiative.
Definitely, but with incentives from the States, which could support the emergence of these structures.
In Cape Verde the non-existence of these marketing strategies you spoke about becomes dangerous, with “good” artists incapable of putting together coherent sentences or logical statements, when in contact with the media, for example. We could say that there isn’t a professional make-up operation that could make them less vulnerable.
There really isn’t any well-aimed work, which is very serious, because having a good product doesn’t mean it’s going to sell. What happens is that we have a large number of artists with a very low intellectual level, which is pitiful. Our artists at the very least have to know the rudiments of Cape Verdean history, our music and our continent. Because if their microphone is on for them to sing into, it’s on for them to pass on messages as well. And they’ll have to know how to tell and justify their origins, their roots. This is imperative, because when they talk to the media they have to seem like they’re prepared. It’s a question of credibility and professionalism.
At MB Records we carry out this work preparing artists, because we defend our country, not our bank account. And we believe that in the long run we’ll see a return on this investment in personal education that’s behind out singers and artists.
Essentially, what is missing is the much-talked-about musical training that Cape Verdeans have long called for.
Exactly, this is the main factor. I’ll give an example: in the Netherlands, the Rotterdam Music Conservatory invited me and Brazilian and Latin American specialists to help form a course on Cape Verdean music. It will be a four-year course of study and should get started soon. In the course curriculum, there are disciplines in the history of Cape Verdean music. This is, indeed, the path to follow. Because the importance of music schools goes far beyond knowing how ot read sheet music. You need to study the very phenomenon of music itself, know what harmonies or melodic lines funaná or any other musical style has, for example. I can come here and teach a thousand people how to write music, but they won’t know what to write because they don’t understand the music. That’s why I say that a serious music department should be created as a part of the future University of Cape Verde to fulfill this function.
Another issue affecting musicians is that of authors’ rights, a problem that seems to have its days numbered with the creation of the Cape Verdean Society of Authors, SOCA. Was this what was missing for the beginning of a new phase in Cape Verdean music?
SOCA really is a major step. I remember in 1988, during the first National Music Meeting, we discussed this need. Cape Verde has an impressive catalogue of songs that, including all those that have been recorded and those that haven’t, probably comes to close to a million compositions. Right now, unfortunately, the revenues from them don’t make it here. I’m a member of the French Society of Authors, but none of the profit comes to Cape Verde, because it either remains in France or goes directly into my account in the United States. With the creation of the Cape Verdean Society of Authors, thousands and thousands of dollars would stay in Cape Verde.
Do you have any idea how much money Cape Verdean music generates abroad every year?
I don’t know because there haven’t been any studies in the area. But to get an idea of the amounts in question, a short while ago Cesária Évora gave a series of concerts in the Netherlands, one of which Tcheka performed at as well. Each ticket cost 50 euros, but even so all the seats were sold out. Around the same time, Lura and Suzanna Lubrano also performed in Holland. At the end, I made a few rough calculations and I concluded that in just two or three weeks these concerts generated around a million dollars. And the bad part is that none or at least very little of this came to Cape Verde.
Does the securing of these revenues for Cape Verde necessarily have to include an entrepreneurial solution?
Of course. Here in Cape Verde we should have entrepreneurs to organize concerts abroad. It’s not hard, considering the fact that we have Cape Verdeans scattered in every corner of the world. And this is yet another function that, in conjunction with the Cape Verdeans who live here in the country, the diaspora would have to take on. This joining of forces could put Cesária in Australia, New York and so on. Creating this relationship, supported by a good cultural policy and the government’s good relations on an international level, we could keep a large part of the revenues and develop the musical industry here.
As such, now that I’ve presented all the solutions, I now declare myself Minister of Music of Cape verde. (laughs) A necessary joke in order to shake the system.
Union among Africa’s Portuguese-speaking nations
The Mendes Brothers’ connection to Africa’s other Portuguese-speaking countries is visible, not just through music, but also through a number of initiatives you’ve spearheaded. Where is the project for the cultural connection among Africa’s five Portuguese-speaking nations at?
At the moment it’s stagnant, but we want to continue. We see the African Portuguese-speaking countries as a single cultural nation, and we want to work based on this assumption. I think the most significant step we took up to the present was in 1996, when for the first and only time so far in history, we put radio stations from all five countries on air simultaneously, from Maputo.
Is this the common cultural space you want to imprint upon your music, through semba, for example?
Semba arose as one of the influences we received by way of the old records Cape Verdean returnees and military personnel would bring back from Angola. But it was in 1993, with the first CD, that it all began, and it became more solid with the album Bandeira, in 1995, in which Angolan percussionist João zinho Morgado participated. With the exception of a few tracks with bandeira and choro music from the island of Fogo, the entire record was influenced by semba. We were very successful with this work in Angola, with everyone from the city to the suburbs listening to it, to the point that [Angolan singer] Carlos Burity, who up until then was a solitary fighter for the affirmation of this musical genre, said that if the Mendes Brothers managed to be such a hit with semba, why can’t we Angolans do the same? Deep down, I think that it’s all a question of union among peoples and of interaction and support.
A union among all of the African Portuguese-speaking nations...
Yes, because there’s a humanity that unites us all ever since the fight for national liberation, in which we had to join forces to obtain political independence. In the same vein, now we have tjoin forces to achieve cultural and economic independence.
MTV IN CAPE VERDE_The huge amount of lobbying you’ve done for Cape Verdean culture abroad seems to be showing results, with the announcement that MTV Base will be coming to the country next year. You’ve now traveled to Praia accompanied by a delegation from the network. What can we expect from MTV Live in Cape Verde?
First of all, enormous projection for Cape Verde, its music, the country itself, in the world, especially because the event will be broadcast to all of Europe and the United States at the very least. I guarantee that from that moment on there will be an explosion of Cape Verde, an authentic cultural revolution. MTV will be the big key to the islands’ success as a country of music and the stamp of approval that we need. Because after this, with the organization functioning and the country meeting the demands, it will be much easier to bring whomever we want here, like Black Entertainment Television or VH1. From there on in, there are no limits.
And what is MTV asking for in return?
Nothing. Because they’re just making programs. Now what we have to do is create the conditions to receive them, alongside the local business community.
What arguments did you use to convince this television station to come here?
It was simple. Cape Verde is a safe, politically stable country, a country of music, well-positioned geographically and extremely beautiful. In addition to all this, the women and men are also very beautiful, which, for a young television network, is very important. After we presented our arguments, we unleashed an extremely strong lobby with MTV in London, in order to position ourselves within the context of the network. Fortun